A DemiHero DISCONTINUED
by PlanetOblivion
Summary: see the rewrite on my profile page
1. Chapter 1

**Yes, another project to procrastinate on. So, in this I have a theory that since Nico had control over the dead so well, then Bianca must have had more control over shadows. So, in this AU, Marinette has more control over the shadows while Nico had the undead and Bianca had more control over the earth. Marinette can still control the undead and earth and vice versa with Nico but she's the strongest with shadows as Nico is the strongest with the undead.**

 **Marinette will be the only French demigod in this story. So no demigod Alya, Nino, Adrien, Chloe, Lila, none of those sorts. Sorry.**

 **In this fic, I'm going to follow the episodes pretty well just with some changes here and there. I don't think there'll be any major changes until we get to season two or so. At least, plot wise. I cant say the same for character development.**

 **Of course, I'll try to keep people in character as much as I can, but I don't think I'll be able to manage so. . . major OOC in this? Things that happen in Trials of Apollo or things revealed in Magnus Chase won't happen, at least not on purpose, since I havent read those and have no plan to, either.**

 **I don't have any prewritten chapters for this so waits may be long.**

 **STORYTIME!**

Marinette took a deep breath. The bakery loomed above her and while it was designed to look welcoming, Marinette felt anything but welcomed. She knew that she would have to get used to it. This bakery was going to be her home for a long time. Temporary home, she corrected herself.

Realizing she had been staring too long, she grabbed her suitcases and opened the door, cringing at the loud sound. A lady looked up from the counter and rushed towards her. "Marinette!" she squeaked.

"Hello, Sabine," Marinette greeted.

Sabine smiled and then realized that her charge still had suitcases with her. "Oh, you must be tired from the long journey here. Let me show you to your room. School starts tomorrow but until then, you can explore Paris!" she explained while leading up the stairs. She talked so fast that Marinette could barely keep up, even if she was nearly fluent in French.

Sabine stopped at a staircase leading up to a trap door. "Well, this is your room! You have a free day today while Tom and I work the bakery."

Marinette nodded and smiled. At Sabine's expecting glance, she climbed up the stairs and opened the trap door. Pink jumped out at her and her jaw dropped as she climbed the rest of the steps and entered the room. Sabine popped her head up from the trap door. "Do you like it? Tom and I didn't know what to expect so we went with a general girl color. We could change it, if you want us to." She sounded nervous and Marinette turned around to reassure her.

"No, it's. . . great. I love it. It's perfect." In actuality the pink was a bit overbearing. There was just so much of it, Marinette was half convinced she had gone blind. But she saw that they had put thought in it and she wouldn't die if it continued. Could use a more bit more dark colors, but Marinette thought that her belongings and clothes will take care of that.

Breaking her train of thought she realized that Sabine had left, leaving her staring blankly in to space. Taking more time to look around she realized that it was a very spaced out room with the bed on an overhanging ledge with a ladder to it. 'Least it wasn't yellow, she thought. There was another ladder, spiral this time, go in to another trap door that lead to outside.

Unpacking the suitcases went by really fast and the only mild trouble she had was when placing them in different spots around the room. When she finished, the room looked a bit odd with all the dark objects littering around. Especially the skulls she placed on the desk. She still had enough room for all her designing stuff though.

Better start getting updated in French fashion, she noted to herself. She yawned then corrected herself, maybe later. She struggled to the bed and flopped onto the bed, nearly falling off. Dragging a blanket over her, she welcomed the darkness that came.

 _Chiron stared at her over the table. "I'm sorry Marinette, but you can't stay here."_

 _Marinette took a breath to reply, but he cut her off. "It's too dangerous for you here. Your powers are growing and it's not ideal for you to stay."_

 _"Then I could have my father give me jobs, like Nico! I don't want to go," she pleaded. Chiron sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose._

 _"Marinette, I don't want you to leave either, but just last week you sent an Ares child to the infirmary. You need better control and the shadows are getting too out of hand."_

 _As they spoke, shadows at the edges flickered in response to the demigod's emotions. Chiron saw this fact and sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, he reflected._

 _"Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng, both legacies of minor Roman gods, are willing to house you in Paris. The last monster attack there, that we know of, happened over a hundred years ago. A fresh new start. You could even go to school there. Not a lot of people look at previous files too closely."_

 _Marinette huffed. "Yeah, wait until they expell me. They always do, Chiron._ _"_

 _The shadows flickered more dangerously, reacting to their mistress's resentment. Chiron's tail swished nervously against his will._

 _"Marinette, most of the time they do it because of your records and your reputation in schools," he approached cautiously, "You're a good person, it's just that in America your kind of reputation spreads."_

 _"What? My reputation as a druggie? How I disappear every few months for day? How I come back with scratches and bruises, so I must be in a gang?" There was no love in her tone. Her expression made that even more clear. Her druggie reputation was at least some what provoke_ _d by her since multiple people in multiple schools had seen her smoking._

 _What she was actually smoking was a new invention made from the Apollo cabin called ambrosia cigs. Or as they jokingly called it, healing sticks. Instead of the harmful components, it's filled with the food of the gods. It was good every now and then, but one could get addicted. Paired with the fact that if consumed to much one could combust, it was a fine line that some overstep too much._

 _"I'm not saying nor implying any of that."_

 _"THEN WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?" The shout was loud but expected. What wasn't expected was the shadows responding and launch in themselves in the form of spikes at the centaur. Chiron launched out of the way, nearly being impaled._

 _A beat of silence._

 _"Oh my gods. . . Chiron,_ _" she reached out, but withdrew her hand at the last moment. Blue eyes filled with tears and Marinette seemed to curl into herself. She whispered her_ _thoughts: "What if I hurt them."_

 _"Marinette, one of the theories is that here at camp and at Camp Jupiter, there are so many powerful people that some people's powers feel threatened, so to speak. You remember how Percy had to leave."_

 _"But he's still close. Not in bloody Paris of all places."_

 _"Marinette. . . we asked Rachel. . . even Apollo. You have to go to Paris. Something is waiting for you there._ _You could still come here on the weekends or holidays every once in a while. You aren't being completely cut off."_

 _Marinette nodded numbly. The shadows calmed down for now._

The teen's body rolled over and off the bed. Waking up mid-fall, a strangled yelp tore from her throat. Pushing herself up with a groan, she looked around the room. Even though it was still cluttered, it never feel more lonely, she glumly thought.

"Well, better get outside," she said to herself. "Still got exploring to do, and if there's something waiting for me, I'm not gonna find it in here. Probably."

Getting up proved a lot harder that she thought, since she had limited space and was tangled with blankets. When she did finally get up, she threw on a black and purple hoodie and shoved tennis shoes on. Once she was actually out the door and on the sidewalk, she paused to look at her plain orange shirt and ripped skinny jeans. Stylish enough, she decided, that she could go outside.

Style or not there was no way she was letting go of her skull ring bracelet. She looked down as she started walking, watching the amethysts glitter. It was her only physical weapon, transforming to a pair of knives, daggers really, made of Stygian Iron.

My only gift from my father that I actually like, she reflected, thinking about her powers. She stopped by a park bench and sat down. Something is waiting for me, she thought. But what is it?

Looking around she saw a few people around her age playing soccer. Football, she corrected herself. She may not change all her slang, but maybe a few major ones. Marinette debated going over there for a while then ultimately decided that anything was better then just sitting.

"Hey! Could I play with you guys?"

Playing with people her age was surprisingly hard. Marinette had to be concious of her strength and speed and on more than one occasion had to lose on purpose. Her bones felt heavy when she dragged herself back to her room after saying a tired greeting to Tom and Sabine who were in the living room.

All she wanted to do was sleep and when she sloppily changed into sweats and a sports bra and finally fell to the bed, she felt the drag on Hypnos take her into darkness.

 _"Tikki...?"_

 _"Just because you're my Chosen, does not mean I have to like it." The words were quiet and resentful._

 _"I thought-"_

 _"That it didn't matter? Well, it did."_

 _The darkness shifted and showed a figure huddled on the bed. They lifted their head to reveal Marinette with tears streaked down her face with a red rock looking object held in her hand. "Oh, Tikki!" she sobbed. She curled into a fetal position and began sobbing once more._

 _The shadows flickered dangerously._


	2. Origins Part One

**So, as it turns out: rewriting an episode with a few more snippets in isn't really that quick and easy.**

 **Like, these take a long time so... y'all know what that means with the updating schedule.**

 **RELATIONSHIPS**

 **Y'all I need you to comment or review on what relationship you want Marinette in. I'm fine with poly, straight, gay, no relationship, queer platonic relationship, yall just need to tell me!**

 **I will not write her with an OC but I will write her with a demigod or one of the French kids.**

 **Some include**

 **Adrian**

 **Alya**

 **Lila (depends on if I'm doing some early character development with her)**

 **Leo**

 **Calyspo (probably only if Leo's in the relationship too)**

 **Some (like Nino, Theo, Percy, or Gabriel) are a no go. Sorry.**

 **I NEED YOU GUYS TO ACTUALLY REVIEW, IF ONLY TO TELL ME YOUR OPINION ON THIS.**

 _Who the gods is Tikki? And why was I crying about her?_

Marinette huffed as another paper missed the bin. The nightmare she had last night distracted her from finishing her new sun dress design. The finishing touches were at the edges of her brain, she just knew it. The nightmare must really be messing with her. She refused to think it was a vision. Maybe Tikki was some on from the Lotus Hotel?

That still didn't explain the rest of the dream.

Marinette groaned and rested her head in her arms. Taking a look at the clock, she yelped. It was almost time for school! She got up from the chair, but tripped and knocked the chair and herself over, hitting her knee on the desk. Groaning, she got up and rubbed her head.

She tugged on a white shirt with a black jacket. Looking around, she reluctantly shrugged on some pink pants and flats. When you're late, she thought as she went down the stairs into the kitchenette, you can't choose anything. She entered the kitchen and poured something into a bowl, not paying attention to what it was. Except maybe what to do for breakfast, she amends her previous thought. Sabine noticed her and smiled.

"It's a start of the new year! I'm sure everything will be just fine," she said to Marinette. Marinette smiled then set the box down too hard, making an orange roll of the bowl and smacking into a milk carton, spilling it all over the floor. "I'm sorry, Sabine," she muttered glumly.

Sabine just smiled and wiped the milk with a rag. Being reminded of the time, Marinette said her goodbyes to Sabine and rushed down the stair, nearly tripping on the way down. Tom greeted her at the bottom with a box of treats.

"La la la la la la la la la la," he sang as he presented the treats to her. Marinette took a look and smiled. "These look great!" she said. "But who're they for?"

Tom smiled, "I figured you could give them to your class, make a good impression." At Marinette's bleak stare, he sighed and set them in the counter. "Look, I may not know how you feel," he whispered in Latin, "but a good impression will do you wonders. Besides, if they do look at your files, they'll hardly hold it against a Marinette who seems so nice."

At Marinette's raised eyebrow, he elaborated: "I'm a legacy of a not so honest god. My father taught me a thing or two about deceiving people."

Marinette nodded and grabbed the box, trying to ignore Tom's proud gaze.

Heading out of the bakery, she stopped at the stoplight. She saw an old man in a Hawaiian shirt cross the road and a car coming towards and acted without thinking. Rushing forwards, she took the old man by the arm and pulled him to the sidewalk, tripping and spilling some of the treats along the way. The old man looked at the the broken sweets. "My apologies, such a diaster I've made," he said.

Marinette shrugged helplessly and offered him one. Taking one and munching on it, he said: "Still good though!"

Marinette laughed. "Yeah, I'm no stranger to disasters"

She heard a bell ring. She stiffed then hastily closed the box again, saying to the old man: "Sorry, I'm going to be late for school! Have a nice day, sir!"

As she ran down the rest of the reaming blocks, it never occured to her to shadow travel.

When she got the school, she bumbled around in search of her first class. When she finally found her classroom, she entered just in time for the teacher to say: "Nino, why don't you sit up front this year?"

Marinette saw that he was one of the people she played soccer with. Better stick with known friendly people, she reasoned. She picked a seat behind him, but not directly so she ended up diagonal to him. Just when she sat the box down, a blonde came up to her.

"Who are you?" she asked rudely.

"Marinette." She decidedly left her last name out of the introduction.

"Oh, you live with the bakers don't you," she sneered. "Well, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am Chloé Bourgeois the Mayor's daughter! And you're in my spot!"

"I don't see your name on it!" Marinette retorted hotly. She could feel the shadows flicker slightly and tried to calm down. "Look, it's a new year Bourgeois. People can pick whatever seat they want. And I chose this one."

Bourgeois pointed a manicured finger at her in triumph. "Exactly," she crowed. The redhead that sat next Marinette nodded. "New school, new year, new seats!" she agreed.

"So why don't you just go and sit beside that new girl over there?" She pointed to a front desk where a girl wih glasses was sitting. "Listen. Adrien's arriving today, and since that's going to be his seat, _this_ is going to be _my_ seat. Get it?" Bourgeois said.

"Who's Adrien?" Marinette asked.

Bourgeois and the redhead laughed. "Can you believe her, Sabrina?" she asked. "What kind of a rock have you been living under?"

"He's only one of the most popular models," Sabrina said.

"And I am his best friend. He adores me. Now, go on. Move!"

The girl with glasses got up and turned Bourgeois by her shoulder. "Hey," she said. "Who elected you the Queen of Seats?"

"Oh, look Sabrina! We've got a little do-gooder in our classes this year," She turned to face the girl again. "What are you gonna do, super-noobie? Shoot beams at me with your glasses?"

The girl huffed and adjusted her glasses. "Wouldn't you like to know." She grabbed Marinette by the hand and dragged her away to where she was sitting. When they reached the last steps, Marinette tripped and fell, spilling the treats. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," she muttered. Great first day of school this was shaping out to be, she dejectedly thought.

The teacher looked up. "Has everyone found a seat?" she asked.

The girl nudged Marinette once she'd got up and sat down next to her. "Chill out, girl. No biggie."

Easy for you to say, Marinette snapped in her head. You dragged me and made me fall! On the outside she knew she had to be polite though. "I so wish I could handle Bourgeois like that."

If she tried, Bourgeois would probably be on her way to the nurse by now.

The girl winked. "You mean" - she shoved her phone towards Marinette, showing a picture- "the way Majestia does it. She says all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing!"

Marinette didn't know how she liked that motto, but she felt some vague distaste for it. Seeing her expression, the girl hurried on: "Well, that girl over there is evil, and we are the good people. We can't let her get away with it!"

Marinette smiled wryly. "Well, she seems like the type to make people miserable."

The girl waved it aside. "That's 'cause they let her, girl! You just need more confidence!"

Marinette grabbed the last treat from the box and gave it to the girl. "Marinette."

The girl broke it in half and gave her back one of them. "Alya."

The teacher stood up and gestured to the board. "For those of you who don't yet know me, I'm Ms Bustier. Ill be your teacher this year."

Marinette eyed the board with distaste. If she expects to know how to spell that, she's poorly mistaken, she thought. Marinette just hoped that when Sabine or Chiron or whoever had checked the box saying that she needed her tests in Braille. Or read outloud. Whichever.

Distantly, she heard Bourgeois whisper: "Ugh, he should've been here by now."

Marinette must've spaced out because the next thing she heard was the bell ringing and everyone getting up.

Ms Bustier called out to those who were leaving. "Those of you in P.E., Mr D'Argencourt is waiting at the stadium. Rest of you can he a to the library."

Marinette pulled her backpack over her shoulders as a commotion sounded behind her.

"Kim!" a large looking boy growled.

Ms Bustier looked shocked. "Ivan, what is going on?"

"It's Kim!" He pointed to an athletic looking person. "I'm so gonna. . ." He pulled back his fist and Marinette warily stepped forward, ready to intervene.

"Ivan, go to the principal's office!" Ms Bustier ordered.

Marinette watched as Ivan angrily stalked out of the classroom then turned to Kim. "What did you do?" she whisper shouted.

"Nothing he couldn't admit! He's just a coward!" Kim retorted. Marinette scoffed and grabbed her bag, already walking to the door. Outside of it was Alya Sith her arms crossed.

"What happened, girl?" Alya asked. Marinette shrugged. "Ivan and Kim got in a fight, now Ivan is at the principal's office."

Alya winced. "Oh. That sounds bad. Kids that go to the principal's office are bad news."

Marinette opted not to tell her that she went to the principal's office at a daily basis one year. Instead, she tried to reassure her: "I'm sure it won't be that bad. He didn't actually hit Kim, so he'll most likely only have detention. Probably."

Alya nodded. "Do you know where the library is?"

Marinette shook her head and the two girls resigned themselves to getting lost. As they tried going down different hallways, an older student stopped them. "Are you guys trying to find the library?" he asked.

They both nodded hurriedly. The student chuckled. "Happens all the time with new students. You take a right then go straight until the double doors."

"Thank you," Alya quickly said, then dragged Marinette off again. Marinette stumbled a bit at the abrupt change of direction, but quickly found her feet again. "Y'ain't giving time to be graceful."

Alya pushed open the doors to the library and shoved her tothe nearest chair, electing many 'sh'sfrom surrounding students. She raised an eyebrow. "Y'ain't?" she asked.

Marinette waved aside a hand and picked a random book from the shelf. She didn't kniw exactly what the title said, but she knew they were in the fiction section and the book had a picture of a girl sword fighting. If anything, she thought to herself, it might be entertaining. Motioning to Alya, she waited until her friend was seated before plopping the book down and shoving it towards Alya. "Can you read it out loud?" she asked bluntly.

Alya picked up the book and flipped through a few pages, not really reading them. She raised an eyebrow and looks up at Marinette. "Why can't you read it?"

Marinette shrugged again. "Dont feel like it," she cheerfully stated. "'Sides, I like listening to people read."

Alya pursed her lips and squinted suspiciously at her newly made friend before starting to read the first page of the book. Marinette counted this as a victory and leaned back in her chair as the words floated in the air. However, the more Alya talked, the more Marinette couldn't focus on the story. She slowly became aware of a conversation an aisle over. Her lips pursed. Now really wasn't the time to complain to your boyfriend, Sasha.

A hand snapped it's fingers in front of her face. Marinette sheepishly refocused on Alya, who had an annoyed look on her face. "Do you usually some out this much? Or am I just boring you?" she asked.

"No no no no," Marinette exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I just lose attention easily. I want to focus, really I do! It's just. . . hard."

Alya made an O with her mouth and nodded her head. "That makes sense. My cousin is like that too. He can focus in anything sometimes. How about this," Alya beckoned Marinette closer and laid the book on the table. "I'll say a sentence and you'll repeat it. It doesn't guarantee that you'll listen but it's what I usually do with my cousin."

Marinette nodded and they both started reading the story. Alya would read a sentence or two while Marinette would parrot it back. Just when they got to where Ariss, the main character, met a villager, a huge tremor shook the room and Marinette and Alya fell out of their seats. Her fingers briefly touched the chain around her hand before Alya was dragging her around to the TVs. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, Marinette reflected.

"Did you hear that?" someone whispered to their neighbor. The TVs showed different angles but most were all of the same thing-a giant stone humanoid monster. "KIM!" the monster roared.

"Is that Ivan's voice? What happened to him?" Marinette asked. She turned to look at Alya and found that she was checking her phone. "Batteries? Check. GPS? Check. I can't believe he's been turned into a super villain! I am so outta here." She sprinted to the door.

"Hey! Where're you going!"

The response was shouted as Alya got out of sight. "Where there's super villains, there's gotta be superheroes!"

Marinette briefly tugged on her ring bracelet, but didn't transform it. Tom and Sabine, she thought, took priority over someone I knew for less than a day. She ignored that she onl knew them for two days as she ran out the double doors, heading for the bakery.

When she was out on the streets, she felt so alone. Everybody had locked themselves indoors. It triggered memories from when she and Nico were on the streets and she briefly started to panic. Trying to calm down, she tugged the hood she had sewn on the day previous over her head and tried to remember where the bakery was. Finally getting her breathing under check, she hurried along the sidewalk.

When she was but a few blocks away from her destination, the earth rumbled and a huge monster came into view. It seems smaller on TV, Marinette thought weakly shrinking from it's gaze. The monster roared. "I AM STONEHEART!"

Thinking about all the cameras that were probably following Stoneheart, Marinette tilted her head down so that she was staring at the ground and no one could see her face. She was now relying purely on shadows and life energies. She felt Stoneheart take a step towards her and built up the shadows next to her and in the alleyway a building to two away. Best have an escape plan if things get tricky. While she was at it, she made the shadows close in on her clothing and parts of her face. Much harder to identify her now.

Stoneheart roared at the new things taking place. He was confused and his master had nothing to say about this. He could vaguely tell that his master wasn't paying attention before the new magic took place and was angry over his lack of attention.

Marinette concentrated on the shadows at her side, form in some into spikes and launching them at Stoneheart. She did this again and again, pushing Stoneheart back until she had enough of a clearing so that she run. Running to the alleyway, she shadow travelled to the bakery, startling Tom who'd just came down from the kitchen.

"Marinette!" Tom said. He gathered her in a bear hug for a moment, then, as if remembering she was still a child of the Big Three, set her down. Marinette tried not to feel too hurt as she knew that she made a strange sight with all the shadows clinging to her. Letting them go, she was almost sad to see them retreat. Using her power made her feel looser and more relaxed, but she still knew it was dangerous.

You can't use them here, she reminded herself. Marinette wilted a bit at the reminder that she was a long ways from home.

"I'll be going to my room now," she added awkwardly. Tom nodded and went to go meet up with Sabine, Marinette assumed.

She blew out a breath she didn't know she was holding and went up the stairs to the trapdoor, pausing to open it and deposit her bag near her desk. She turned her swivel chair around and got on so she was straddling it with her chest pressed against it's back. She quickly logged on to her computer and did a search to see if anyone had seen her earlier stunt so far. When she was satisfied no one saw her, she went on to the news, where they were reporting more and more Stoneheart occurrences.

Letting out a groan of despair, she looked down to tug at her ring bracelet, only to stop at the sight of a small octagon box with red markings. I swear that wasn't there this morning, she thought cautiously. Was it something from Camp? She slowly opened it to find red circular earrings with five black dots on each. Reminds me of ink on blood a bit too much for my tastes, she morbidly thought.

Putting one of the earrings near her ear, she got up and looked in the mirror. Wouldn't really suit her. Her free hand came up to her hair, twiddling it in thought. Unless. . .

She went back to her desk to get two ribbons and, after a moment's hesitation, got the red ones instead of the black she'd been thinking of. She tied her hair into two pigtails, leaving her bangs out. Going back to the earrings, she actually out them on.

And then whirled around to face the strange bug like creature behind her. Who then floated up to her face hurriedly. "Don't scream!" it-or she?-said.

"Bug thing talks," Marinette faintly said.

"Yep! And my name is Tikki! I'm your Kwamii, I'm going to help you defeat the akumas!" Tikki squeaked.

Marinette was instantly suspicious. No one was ever this sweet without wanti- _hold up, did she say Tikki!?_ Marinette's gaze turned even more horrified.

"Excuse me? Are you alright, Marinette?"

Snapping out of it, she narrowed her eyes. "How do you know my name? And what is a Kwamii anyway? Do I have to sell my soul or something? 'Cause I hate to break it to ya, but I ain't got no soul."

Tikki sighed. Marinette already felt patronized. "Don't say that about yourself! I don't need your soul or anything, I just grant you super hero things! Like a cool new suit and a magic yoyo! All you need to do is say the magic phrase: Spots on! If you say lucky charm it gives you an object to help you win! But then you only have five minutes til you automatically de-transform, which the spots on your earrings will indicate. If you want to de-transform without using the lucky charm, then just say spots off! Got it?"

"Okay. . . Tikki, spots on!" Marinette cautiously tried. When this whole thing was done, she was gonna find some way to contact Nico or Percy or Annabeth or someone without the possibility of Tikki knowing. Somehow. Marinette'll find a way. Maybe she could beg Chiron to come back to New York?

Tikki flew into her earrings and pink light enveloped the demigod's body (why is it always pink), Marinette barely remembered to cover her aura of darkness before the transformation was complete. Tikki didn't seem to notice it before, but now that she was. . . intimately. . . near Marinette, the daughter of Hades was not taking chances.

"Woah," she breathed, looking in the mirror. The spandex was made of sturdy material but Marinette couldn't help but feel a bit exposed. Her eyes caught on a yoyo and she unclipped it from her suit softly. Looking around, she had a strange notion to go to the balcony. When she finally arrived, she looked at the yoyo, then one of the surrounding buildings. A thought wiggled it's way to the front of her mind. _Swing it_ , it whispered.

"Oh, _no_ ," she laughed. "Magic or not, no way am I gonna do that! Speaking of which, where did they say the. . . akuma? Where the akuma was again?"

She vaguely remembered something about Stoneheart heading for the Stadium. Okay, she thought, I can do this. Just like New York. She took a running leap from her balcony and landed on the nearby roof, almost falling off because _woah when could she jump that high?_ Probably a suit thing, she decided. Jumping roof to roof, she lost herself to the feeling of flying. . . then almost launched herself to the ground when she realised that she practically flying.

Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself down and resumed doing the parkour more cautiously, but not necessarily more slowly. "Calm down," she murmured to herself. She was in a middle of another jump when she flew into someone. Her yoyo got hooked on something and tangled around her and the other person.

Blinking her eyes rapidly, she came face to face with a blond with green eyes. The black mask covered half his face and if she inched her eyes to the top of his head, she'd find leather cat ears. "Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry, and sorry again," she hurriedly squeaked.

After a bit of struggle, they were able to untangle themselves. "No problem," he assured her. "What's your name? Mine's uh, um, Chat! Yeah, uh, Chat Noir!"

Marinette coughed awkwardly. "Well, I'm uh," as she talked, she tugged on her yoyo to get it unstuck, "I'm Ma- madly clumsy, are you alright?" she said after her yoyo fell and hit him in the head. She winced and bit her lip in sympathy. She knew how much head injuries hurt.

Chat Noir rubbed his head and smirked. "No sweat, clumsy girl. I'm learning the ropes too," he said.

The floor trembled and they looked up, only to see a building go crashing down near the stadium. From where they were, they could see a cloud of dust explode into the air. Chat Noir started running down the street towards it.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Marinette helplessly shouted after him.

"To save Paris, right?" With that parting message, he swung his baton, making it extend and putting him back on the rooftops. Marinette scoffed quietly at herself. "C'mon," she muttered. "Trust yourse- trust the suit."

Marinette used the yoyo to hook into one of the chimneys and swing onto the rooftop closest to her. Her heart pounded. Maybe not such a good idea, she thought, looking at the sky as if to see judgmental lightning. Not seeing any (why would she? She was in Paris), she started jumping from roof to roof again.

When Marinette finally got there, she was a bit behind Chat Noir, who used his baton. Even so, she mentally scoffed, I ain't gonna do that yoyo swing again any time soon. She was on the opposite site of Alya, who was watchingthe fight with her phone in hand. Chat Noir tried hitting Stoneheart with his baton but all it seemd to do was make the akuma bigger.

Stoneheart roared with anger and swatted at a goal net, sending it flying towards Alya, who was close to it. The blogger yelped and dropped her phone trying to cover her head feebly. Marinette didn't think for a second, she just the shadows and screams engulf her. Not a second later, she appeared behind Alya, tackling her and rolling so they ended up with her kneeling over her friend while both she and Alya crouched. The net tumble a few meters away from them and Marinette let out a breath of relief.

Alya looked at Marinette and her eyes lit up. "Thanks!" she said and sprinted over to her phone, pick in it up and checking over it. When Marinette was standing up again, the phone was held in a way that it was clear she was being recorded. Alya shouted, "What are you waiting for, super red bug? The world is watching you!"

Marinette throughout a helpless glare at the friend she made that day but still looked around. She nervously looked at her yoyo then rather heard than saw Chat Noir getting trapped in the akuma's fist. Making up her mind, she swung her yoyo at Stoneheart, wrapping it around him as to make him let go of her. . .partner? Partner.

She ran over to him, giving him a hand up, then facing the akuma. "Animal cruelty?" she mocked. "How shameful!"

She heard Alya in the background crowing, "Yes!"

She smiled apologetically at her feline themed partner. "Sorry it took so long."

He smiled and winked at her. He made his hand into a fist then cracked his knuckles. "It's cool, Wonderbug. Now, let's kick this rocky behind!"

He tried running towards Stoneheart, who was still on the ground, before Marinette was able able grab a hold of his tail. Leather, she noted. "Wait! Haven't you noticed? He gets bigger and stronger every time we hurt him. Well, technically I don't know about 'hurt' maybe just attack would be better. . .anyways, we gotta do something different!"

"Different how?"

"Uhm. . . I don't know, actually, but-"

"Okay then. Let's use our powers. Cataclysm!" Black wisps came from his claw tipped fingers and Marinette had to stop an embarrassing yelp coming out of her from the darkness radiating from it. "Apparently I destroy everything I touch."

"I don't need superpowers to destroy everything," Marinette muttered. She was caught between in her thoughts on how he could see this as a good thing and the part saying that _she_ was the one who wanted those powers. She didn't notice Chat Noir reach out to the remaining goal net until it was too late.

"Chat Noir, No! Don't do. . .that," she weakly finished when the net turned to rust and broke. The blond lauhhed, not see in her cringing expression. "Cool!" He looked at Stoneheart, who had gotten up at this point. "It's just you and me now! Time to rumble, soon-to-be rubble!"

"Chat Noir wait!" Vaguely she wonders if he was told that the akuma is an actual person and will probably die if he does that. Poor Ivan.

The male super hero leaped towards the akuma, landing at his feet and puching him, probably expecting to see him crumbs like the net. He blinked and held up his hand. "Uh oh. I guess I only get one shot to use my power."

Stoneheart picked him up and threw him back over to Marinette who caught him bridal style, stumbling back a bit. She looked down at him and sighed while he put on a sheepish expression. "And you only have five minutes before you transform back. Didn't your kwami explain anything to you?"

"I guess I got a little too excited with my new life. . .?"

Marinette huffed, but set him down next to her. "Well," she said, "up to me. Lucky charm!" She feel a rush of more adrenaline before it faded and a. . .wet suit? A wet suit fell into her hands. "Now I have to break the object where the watchama-call-it. . . akuma is hiding."

Chat raised his eyebrows at her. "Well, he's made out if stone. . .?" As he was talking, Marinette was scanning Stoneheart's appearance. A thought came to her, making her gasp. "His right hand, it's still closed. He never opens it. It's like the Russian dolls. The object isn't on him, it's hidden in his fist!"

"So what's your plan?"

She looked around and the fist, Alya and a hose near her popped out to her. "This." She grabbed the hose and tied it to the suit. Then she tied Chat Noir's feet to her yoyo. "Don't miss," she adds to the confused cat hero. "Trust me."

She throws Chat towards Stoneheart, getting him trapped again in the rocky fist. She waved her arms wildly. "Catch me if you can!" she shouted. He took ghe bait and opened his other fist, making a piece of paper fall out. He grabbed Marinette who twisted her head to Alya. "You! Over there! The tap, quickly!"

Alya did it quickly, making the suit inflate with all the water. It forced Stoneheart's hand to open and made him let go of Marinette long enough for her to scramble toward the paper, ripping it in half. Stoneheart shrunk to reveal Ivan and a dark butterfly flew out of the teared up note. She saw Chat Noir and Ivan say a few things before her partner walked over to her. "You were incredible miss. . .uh. . .Bug lady. You did it!"

"We did it, partner." She held her fist and he bumped his against hers. "Pound it!" they said at the same time.

His ring beeped and Marinette could barely see a paw print disappeared. "You have to get going. We cant have our identities leaked."

He nodded. "Farewell, m'lady. Lets do this again soon, okay?"

"Not too soon, I hope."

Now that she had the time, she looked at the note and winced at the words. While not the most harsh she'd ever heard, it definately could've been worded better. She walked over to Ivan and he looked at the paper. "Ivan wrote it," he explained. "He's always Malkin fun of me."

Marinette crouched down next to him. "You know, you shouldn't get so bent out of shape about that. There's no shame in telling someone you love them." She knew that it was always better when people did that, most of the time. When Nico confessed to Percy, they were able to put that behind them and now her brother has a healthy relationship with Will. Ivan smiled at her.

Alya rushed over, sensing a lull in conversation. "Uncanny, amazing, spectacular! Are you gonna be protecting paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get stung by a radioactive Ladybug? Oh, I've got a ton of questions to ask you, uh, miss... uhh..."

"Ladybug." Better to be simple.

"Ladybug. Super awesome." The last few words were in an awed whisper.

"My partner's name is Chat Noir if you didnt know that already." Alya looked ready to faint so she left her and Ivan in the stadium, heading back to the bakery.

* * *

The screen showed a reporter gesturing to a video with Ladybug as the thumbnail. Marinette listened with half an ear as she designed Greek inspired jewelry for a request from one of the Aphrodite kids. "So thanks to this amateur footage, the Parisians now know the identities of their heroes!" Funny how they didn't mention Alya's name.

Tikki flew up to the teen's face. "You see? You were up to it!"

She smiled and was about to politely tell the Kwamii to screw off, she's ruining her concentration, when Sabine called up the stairs, "Marinette! Dinner's ready!"

Tikki stayed in her Chosen's room as Marinette had dinner with the Dupain-Chengs. After dinner, she insisted on doing the dishes, forgoing all their complaints.

As she was doing the dishes, she heard Sabine turn on the TV to the News station. Sabine let out a small gasp. Marinette listened while she cleaned off a plate with a yellow rag. "Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of out two new superheroes, Ladybug and Cat Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It's simply unbelievable."

The plate fell out of her hands and nearly crashed to the floor, if Marinette hadn't been so quick. Setting it down, she quietly ran up the stairs to her room. She had left the computer on and the next few words floated over to her.

"These victims transformed into stone beings are still like statues. The police are perplexed to what will happen to them. Will they come back to life or be frozen in time forever?"

Looking at the Kwamii next to her, Marinette couldn't keep some of the tremors in her voice hidden. "Tikki? What's going on? I thought we defeated him."

"Did you catch the akuma?"

"What's that gotta do with these mini stone monsters?"

Tikki cringed apologetically. "An akuma can multiply, that's why it must be captured. If Ivan's emotions become negative again, then the akuma will turn him back into Stoneheart! He'll control all the stone beings and bring them to life to serve as his army!"

Marinette slumped. "So. . .this is all my fault? I knew it. I'm not cut out to be a superhero, Tikki! I always mess up." The last part was said in a whisper.

To tried to cheer her up and for a moment Marinette could pretend that she wouldn't make her sob in the future. "Keep calm. It was your first time. You're going to go back and capture Stoneheart's akuma, and do it successfully!"

Marinette still shook her head. "Chat Noir will be better without me. I'm sorry Tikki."

"Only Ladybug can capture and purify akumas!"

"Then find another Ladybug!" She didn't know if it was because of her nightmare or not, but she reached up and took off her earrings, only hearing Tikki's cut off protest. When she opened her eyes, she gazed at the earrings. "I'm sorry, Tikki. . ."

After puttjg the earrings and the box away in her drawer, she got up and took almost robotic steps to the bathroom, creation a rainbow. Pulling out a drachma, she tossed it in after saying the prayer. "Show me. . . show me Reyna in Camp Jupiter."

Oh how she wanted to see her siblings, but she needed an unbiased opinion and as Praetor, Reyna could give it to her. The rainbow flickered and an image of Reyna appeared. She looked like she was turning in for bed and Marinette feel a boat of guilt just wreck into her.

Reyna finally noticed the image. "Marinette," she said with a note of surprise. "How are you?"

Marinette blinked back a few tears. "I messed up, Rey. So badly," she whispered.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?"

And she did. She told the Praetor of her classmates, Tikki, the akuma, her using her powers, being Ladybug, not purifying the akuma. All the while, Reyna didn't speak a word. Finally, she spoke up. "I think you should be happy. It doesn't matter if your Ladybug or not. Follow what you think will do best. But make sure to keep an open mind. What seems right, right now, may change later. Don't feel as if you need to be correct all the time. Things change. People change. I'm saying this as your friend _and_ your Praetor."

Marinette nodded. An idea popped into her head and she didn't hesitate to tell Reyna it. The brunette shrugged and smiled. "You'll make the right decision in the end. I know you will."


	3. A Break

**Hey y'all. We aren't going to have a story time this chapter. I'm sorry. I think I'll be taking a break from writing for a while. I'm just going through these things in my personal life, struggling with my identity, who I like, who I _am._ I'm sorry again. I'm trying to sort through my gender and sexuality and mental problems and I'm just. . .not in the mood to write.**

 **If I can, I'll post chapters, but please don't get your hopes up.**

 **The story is going to continue. Make no doubt about that. But I'm just taking a break. I don't know how long.**

 **Please keep reviewing and enjoying my stories. Maybe I'll make a few about what I'm experiencing and just substitute characters for it.**

 **I love you all, but I need to step out and figure things out for myself.**


	4. Origins Part Two

**THE AN LAST CHAPTER IS STILL IN PLACE! I just had this half completed anyway.**

 **Still gonna be long pauses between chapters. Sorry for any mistakes in the chapter!**

 **Make sure to go my profile and vote on the poll, please!**

 **Read and review.**

 **STORYTIME!**

Washing the dishes became sort of Marinette's thing to do when there was a lull in her activities. School was beginning in a few minutes, which meant that she would need to leave in five minutes at the most. Which gave her some time to think over her plan. Tom was watching the TV on the News station. It seemed like that was what everyone was doing with the mini Stonehearts on the streets.

Tom looked at her carefully. "Listen, I know this is a far cry from what you were promised, but don't worry; we've got two superheroes looking out for Paris, and the best way to help them and not reveal anything is to show them that we're not scared, because we trust them." At the end, he laid him hand on his forearm. The one with the lines of service burned in.

Marinette finished drying the last plate, then smiled at him bitterly. "What if Ladybug fails?"

Tom laughed a little and pointed to painting where behind it was a compartment where various weapons lay. They had one in each room sans the bakery. There it was hidden beneath the carpet.

"While I don't like it, that's why we have those."

Marinette smiled and cracked a weak chuckle before she realized that she needed to get going. Saying goodbye to Tom, she went and snatched her bag, double checking that the black and red box was still there. Taking a deep breath, she shadowed traveled, letting the screams and coldness embrace her for a few moments before spot to her out near the front doors.

She shook herself out of the slight daze she found herself in and quickly jogged out from the alcove near the steps. It was a very useful place, since no one could see it through the bushes.

"Alya!"

The girl turned around and beamed at her friend. When Marinette caught up to her, they entered to the courtyard and Alya shoved her phone in her face.

"The Ladyblog," she proclaimed proudly, letting Marinette take the phone, "bringing you all the latest news about the coolest superhero, Ladybug! How awesome is that?" She snatched her phone back. "Check out the number of views since I posted a video!"

"Why do you trust Ladybug that much? Marinette couldn't help but ask. "All those stone clones littering the streets. . ."

Alya shook her head as if Marinette was being stupid. "She's gonna handle them. She's a superhero!"

"Or she could fail completely and the whole of Paris can be stuck with these things until something happens and they eventually start the apocalypse."

"Girl, you'd gotta stop being negative! I know what this is about," she put a sympathetic pat on Marinettes arm. "You're scared. But don't worry! I've seen it with my own two eyes. Ladybug us a true superhero, and she'll protect all of us."

Marinette looked down and focused on the purse where she could feel Tikki's energy trying to reach her. Doing this for her own good, she reminded herself. She looked up when she realised that Alya was walking past a gaggle of students from he class. The demigod paused long enough to catch the last few parts of the conversation.

The short girl looked at Ivan closely. "You really don't remember anything?"

The goth-looking chick nodded along. "You were crazy. It was so cool. Amazing, really."

Kim scoffed and pushed the short girl away. He leaned closer, almost eagerly. "You were seriously out to crush me, dude!"

Ivan coughed. "Im sorry. . . I wasn't myself, I-"

Bourgeois cut him off and scoffed. "Oh please, once a monster, always a monster!" Ivan turned red and stormed away as Chloe taunted after him, "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

Alya fumed and pointed pointed finger at the blonde. "How could you say that to Ivan? You're the real monster here, Chloe!"

Bourgeois made a noise if disgust and slapped Alya's finger away. "Oh, so I'm the one who broke Sabrina's dad's arm, am I? Just because you got that lame footage of those nerdy superheroes on TV, doesn't mean you get all high and mighty!" She blew and popped a bubble of gum to emphasis the point.

"You little. . ." Alya trailed off as she took a step forward. Marinette pursed her lips and put a hand on her arm. "Alya," she quietly warned.

Bourgeois laughed. "Look out everyone, she's angry! I bet she's gonna split her clothes and turn into a huge monster! And look, Dupain-Cheng's trying to play hero! How pathetic."

Marinette's grip tighten and her face got a dark look on it. She breathe in and out as she spotted shadows flickering in the corner of her eye. She's not worth it. She's not worth it. She's not worth it.

She straightened and looked in the direction of the front doors as she felt an. . .odd aura. It felt almost like Chat's, but lighter. Without as much darkness. A blond boy walked through the door and Marinette took a minute to admire his clothing. It was obviously expensive and if Marinette had already looked up Paris fashion she probably could've named the brand. Her ratty jeans and plain black short sleeve felt a bit less compared to his outfit, but it was comfortable so Marinette couldn't complain.

The blond spotted their group and raised a hand in greeting. "Hey, Chloé!"

 _Bourgeois_? He was greeting Bourgeois?

The brat giggled and shrieked, running towards him and throwing arms around his neck. Marinette raised an eyebrow at his clearly uncomfortable face.

"Adrikins! You came!"

Marinette had to stop herself cringing while other students crowded around Adrien Agreste. As Alya pulled her towards their next class, she took out her phone. She had reigned in her aura, something that the Big Three's children were taught after the Giant War, so it didn't interfere with monsters. It was mostly a safety precaution since Paris rarely had Greek or Roman monsters.

She searched Adrien's name and got different results, which she used the translator to turn into Greek. Adrien Agreste, thirteen, turns fourteen soon, and models for his father's brand which is one of, if not the most, popular brands in Paris. So if I'm fourteen right now, she thought, tucking her phone away, that means I'm at least a few months older than him.

She moved so Alya wasn't holding her arm anymore and told her to keep going while she checked on Ivan. When she finally got to the locker room, she hesitated then pushed in. She found Ivan sitting on the floor with a miserable expression on his face and something stirred in her. She crouched in front of him. "You should really tell her how you feel, Ivan."

"I. . .I don't know what you're talking about."

Why her? Anyone else would've have been perfect but her? And emotions? "I see the way you look at her. It'sthe same way one of my friends look at his girlfriend"-Grover and Juniper, by the way, are disgustingly adorable most of the time-"and I'm pretty sure she likes you too. Go. . .talk to her. Something. Man, my cousin would be way better at this." Jason would so know what to do.

The boy shrugged defeatedly. "Not good with words," he mumbled.

Marinette floundered for a second. It was the first time she had helped anybody outside of her family and it was just odd. With her family, she could point out one of their great deeds and say they have more than enough bravery to do this but she didn't think that Ivan would like for her to bring up Stoneheart. "Oh, who needs words! Draw her a picture. Take a picture. Send her flowers. Arrange a study date, something!"

Ivan bit his lip. "Write her a song?" he suggested timidly.

"Uh. . .great! I'm sure a lot of girls want a love song written for them. . .?" She saw Ivan's unsure look. "Go for it! If you think that's what she wants then go for it!"

Seeing that the bell was about to ring, she waved goodbye to a hopeful looking Ivan and met Alya outside Ms. Bustier's classroom. She decided to screw all tact. It was never her strong suit anyway. "Alya how'd you like to be all superhero-y and those ak- villain things?" She's pretty sure no civilian knows the term akuma.

Alya shook her head energetically. "Totally! Im not scared of anyone."

Marinette smiled but didn't say anything as she snuck the black box into her friend's bag.

As they entered the classroom, Marinette saw the blond boy from earlier crouching down near their seat. Past experiences with malicious campers set her on edge and she marched up to them. Pausing behind him, she set a hand on her hip and tapped the other on his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Adrien turned around and stood up quickly, realizing how suspicious his position was. "I. . .I, uh. . ."

Bourgeois and her redhead laughed behind them. Marinette tensed and saw red for a few seconds. "Okay. I get it," she said shortly. "Good job, you three. Very funny. I'm rolling on the floor with laughter, really," she sneered.

Adrien shook his head and hands frantically. "No! No, no, no, you've got this all wrong! I was try in to take this _off!"_

"Oh, really?" Her voiced raised a little at the end in disbelief but Marinette didn't care at that moment. The two brats laughed again behind them. "You're friends with Bourgeois, aren't you?" she asked bitterly.

Adrien ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Why do people keep saying that?"

"Just go!" She sweeped a hand in the direction of his seat for emphasis. His head hung and want to his seat, staring somberly at his desk.

"Now you see what I mean about respect?" Bourgeois asked in her nasally voice.

Marinette peeled off the gum with a tissue and a look of disgust on her face. She threw it in the trash can and sat next to Alya, who shook her head. "Daddy's boy, teen model, and Chloe's buddy? Hmph. Forget it."

Marinette calmed down and set out her things, clicking on a pen while bouncing her leg. Ms. Bustier walked to the front of the room and started attendance. "Agreste, Adrien?"

Marinette saw Nino whisper something something Adrien and then the blond Jim up with a hand in the air, saying, "Here!"

The class laughed and Marinette snickered, ducking her head. She missed the fistbump that was between the boys and the glance a certain blond gave her.

"Bourgeois, Chloe?"

"Present!"

"Bruel, Ivan?" No one answered. Ms. Bustier repeated her question. "Bruel, Ivan? Has anyone seen Iv-"

"PRESENT! Mylene!" Stoneheart bursted through the wall and grabbed Mylene for her seat. Mylene squirmed then cried out, "Ivan! Please, put me down?"

"I'm not Ivan anymore. I'm Stoneheart." The shadows flickered dangerously but Marinette couldn't stop them.

"Why are you doing this?" Mylene asked.

"So you and I can be together. Forever." That. . .does not sound like a healthy relationship.

Chloe started to loudly talk to her phone. "Daddy, the monster is back!" she whined. Stoneheart grabbed her and then absolutely wrecked the wall to the outside. He jumped outside and carried his hostages away.

Marinette jump as she felt Alya put a hand on her arm. "Come on!" she said. "Let's follow him!"

"Uh. . .no. You go. I'm heading to the bakery and making sure everyone's safe."

Alya shook her head. "You're going to miss Ladybug in action!"

Marinette gave a helpless shrug and shoved Alya's bag towards her. "You and Ladybug will both be better off without me." She kept clicking her pen. Click. Click. Click.

"If you say so." The blogger ran out the room and Marinette ran a hand over her face, dragging it. She said a nasty curse in Greek and looked at the bag. She grabbed it and ran out the door, looking left ajd right for Alya before one of those mini stones came to life and roared at her.

Greek, Latin, and Italian curses are very helpful, she found.

She ran the block tryjng to get rid of it when she saw Alya almost get crushed by a car. Her eyes widened and shadows slowed it down, not enough to be noticeable but enough for a black leather clad figure to save the young blogger. Alya got trapped while Chat Noir became enclosed by a giant fist.

"Let me go, you rockhead!"

"HELP!"

Marinette cursed for yet another time and looked around frantically. She concentrated on the shadows and made them morph into a hoodie around her, the hood shadowing her face. Once it was in set, she ran to Alya and helped her, shoving her in the direction of the school.

"GO!" She yelled, voice distorted by shadows. It felt quite relaxing actually, to use this much of her powers. Alya stared at her with a slightly opened mouth. Just a moment later, she had her phone out and was recording Marinette.

"Who are you? What's your purpose? Are you a new superhero?" she fired off rapidly.

Marinette felt her eye twitch. "I'm gonna be your murderer soon, if you don't head to the school and get away from the danger." Shadows flickered ominously as a point and Alya saw that.

"Are shadows your superpower? Man, that is so cool! He-"

The next part was cut off as Marinette forcefully grabbed and pushed her in the direction of the school, shadow traveling when Alya's head was turned.

She ended up in an alley way a couple blocks from where Alya was. She still had the bag. The realization made her drop it as she began panicking. Did Alya recognize it? Did she know who she was?

Before she knew it, she was in a fetal position against the brick wall, with shadows comfortingly clinging to her. The bag. What was in the bag? She calmed down enough to think about it.

...

...

TIKKI!

Marinette practically ripped open the bag and dumped the box into her hand, cradling it gently. She opened it and put on the silver earrings quickly and Tikki appeared in a sphere of pink light. Always pink, Marinette absently noted. Tikki raised her little arms. "Mmmm!"

Marinette smiled, despite the situation at hand. "I think Paris needs Ladybug right now."

Tikki smiled and flew up to her face. "I knew you'd come around!"

"Oh, I'm still definitely not up to the task and will most likely fail, but people are in danger and I know that my family wouldn't like it if I left them to die. So, Tikki? Spots on!"

After she had put on the suit (which still made her uncomfortable. Note to self, spend more time getting used to it.) she noted that her hair was put into ponytails with red ribbon due in the transformation. Neat, she thought as she pulled out her yoyo and ran out to where Chat was taken away by a mini stone. She spotted a silver baton lying on the ground and grabbed it, throwing it to her partner. Chat Noir caught it and jumped, with the yoyo wrapping around and flipping him upside down.

He grinned at her. "M'lady, have I ever told you, you make my world turn?"

"Quite the joker, aren't you?" Notcing the mini stones closing in, she rushed out the next part: "But it needs a better timing. Er, work. No, wait. Your joking time-no. Hang on, your comedic timing needs sime work. Yeah, that works."

Chat Noir seemed to take pity and ignored her stumble of words. "Shouldn't we take care of them?"

Marinette tracked one with her gaze. "No," she murmured. "If we wanna sve them all, we go to the source. That one!"

Thyer an after the mini stone and ended up at the Eiffel Tower, where the mayor and police cars littered in front of. Marinette recognized a blonde sailin through the air as Bourgeois, who was. . .praying? She ran forward to catch her from splattering on the pavement and all the brat had to say was, "I didn't promise!"

"What?" she answered blankly.

But Bourgeois was already wriggling out of her arms and hugging her dad, who turned around to the police officer. Marinette let out a tiny _oof_ of sympathy when she noted the casted arm. Broken arm. Whichever.

The mayor gave a nod and the police man waved at the cars. "We're clear to attack!"

Which was. . .not okay.

"No!" she yelped. "Don't! You know it'll only make it worse you amnesiac loser!" Okay, so maybe spending those recovery days in the infirmary rubbed off on her.

The man waved her words aside. "Unlike you, I have a plan! Move aside and let the pros do their work, you've already failed once."

Marinette slumped next to Chat Noir, all the fight leaving her. Her partner couldn't help but marvel at the fact that even though she was insulted, she still looked like she had a wall of determination to her.

"He's right. Should've captured the akuma." Her throat feel like it was closing up and her breathing became irregular. Chat Noir put a hand on her shoulder. "No. He's wrong, because without you, she'd no longer be here. And because without us, they won't make it, and we'll prove that to 'em. Trust me on this. Okay? Just breathe."

She nodded, still unable to speak. Up on the Eiffel Tower, Stoneheart went into a fit, coughing up swarm of akumas that formed into a masked face.

The fluttering mouth moved. "People of Paris, listen to me. I am Hawk Moth."

 _Hawk Moth?_

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me the ladybug and cat miraculous now. You have inflicted enough damage to these poor innocent people!"

Whispering started behind her as Marinette's lips tighten and she straightened up. She just got here. She will not have it ruined by this fashion disaster of a villain! She walked up to the structure, channeling the diplomatic part of her that was so handy when she was active as an ambassador of Pluto. She looked like authority and everyone around seemed to remember just who was in control of one of the most powerful miraculous.

"Nice try, Butterfly." He snarled at the insult. "But we all know who the real villain is. Let's not reverse the roles, shall we? Without you, none of these people would be transformed into stones. No matter what it takes, we will find you. And _you_ will be the one handing over your miraculous!"

She was acting purely on instinct when she opened the yoyo to reveal a glowing pink light from it. She swung it, capturing all of the dark butterflies and then releasing pure white ones. They scattered in the air while Marinette (she should really think of herself as Ladybug, shouldn't she?) turned around to address the awed audience behind her. "Let me say this to you all. Chat Noir and I will be here to do our best to help the citizens of Paris!"

Stoneheart roared, getting Ladybug's attention. She ran to the Eiffel Tower and used her momentum to run up the metal to where the akuma was. She heard stones crunching and realized that all the mini stones were moving once more and that Chat Noir and her better hurry up.

As if summoned, Chat landed next to her and crouched down. They were positioned so they could see Stoneheart, but not vice versa. "Why aren't you using your yoyo to swing up here?"

"I'm not very fond of being in the air. Or heights."

"You're on the Eiffel. You do realise this, right?" he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Ladybug chanced a look down, then immediately looked up again, tensing up. "I was trying not to think about it!"

Chat Noir winced and quickly changed the topic. "We're surrounded. This is not good. The only thing we know is what the akuma is."

"In his clenched fist," Ladybug answered. "The one he's holding Mylene with. So. . .?"

Chat Noir picked up the conversation quickly, seeming very excited. "We know that he likes her, so we don't separate them: we bring them closer!"

"What? Not really following you. But, okay. I dont have any better ideas so, okay. Uh, I guess we should work on semi. . .trusting each other. Something tells this is how it's gonna be from here on out. And how do you know this anyway?"

"I saw it in a show once." Then he was out, jumping to a few beams higher then Stoneheart.

A show.

They're trusting a show.

Ladybug shook her head as she scaled the metal beams, getting just close enough so she could hear Mylene admit her fear of heights. "Everuthings going to be alright!" she yelled back.

"How are we going to get them closer than they already are?"

"Didn't you come up with the plan?"

"The basis? Yes. Steps? Not really."

"What about our powers? Lucky Charm!" Her yoyo flew into the air as a burst of light fell from it. The light manifested as a parachute that Ladybug caught. "A parachute? What? Does this have a purpose? I'm confused, hold up."

The mini stones had already began climbing and was about to reach their position as Ladybug started turning the parachute over in her hands, as if she had all the time in the world. One of them reached the duo and grabbed Chat Noir, throwing him in the air. It was by luck that he was able to land on Stoneheart's shoulder. "You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Uh. . .not really, but worth a shot, right?"

"Thats not nearly as comforting as it should be."

Ladybug ignored her partner in favor of wrapping the yoyo around Stoneheart's hand, pulling it-and by extension, Mylene-closer to her. She kept pulling until Mylene kissed Stoneheart, who, in turn, dropped her. It was lucky that Mylene was able to grab a hold on Stoneheart's thumb. Good girl, Ladybug thought.

Chat ran towards the opened hand and grabbed the piece of paper, batting it with his baton to Ladybug. She caught it and ripped it, making a dark butterfly fly from the remains. "Home run, darling!" She captured it with her yoyo and released when it was purified.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stoneheart transform back to Ivan, causing both him and Mylene to fall from the Tower. She ran towards them, chouting over her shoulder. "Chat Noir, get Ivan! I got Mylene."

"Cataclysm!" Part of the Tower fell, helping Ladybug and Chat Noir get closer to the other teens. Chat caught Ivan while Ladybug helped Mylene until all of them were at the bottom of the Tower.

"Gotcha! Miraculous Ladybug!" After setting Mylene down, she threw the parachute up into the air, making it disperse back into pink energy with ladybugs. They traveled around fix in all the damage the akuma made.

Chat landed beside her. "Whoa, you see in what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah, it's. . .something." Truth be told, it made her slightly uncomfortable. It was just all the positive energy surrounding her. She suppressed a shudder of discomfort.

"One could it's even. . .miraculous."

"I'm disowning you."

Ignoring her partner's protests, she jogged up to where Ivan and Mylene were sitting awkwardly next to each other on the ground. "Hey," she said, crouching in front of Mylene. "Maybe it would be better if you read what Ivan actually wrote for the lyrics. I actually feel a but flattered on your behalf!"

After giving the paper to Mylene, she walked back to where Chat Noir was watching them. She stopped next to them and watched the other two teens talk. "They like each other. Cute."

Chat Noir spared her a glance. "You really seen good with these type of things, are you? Emotions?"

"Not really," she sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I could teach you." Chat Noir winked. His ring beeped and a pawprint disappeared.

"Time to go, kitty. See you soon!" she said.

"Can't wait, M'Lady."

* * *

It was very peaceful without the akuma. Everyone was still wary over th akuma, but mostly, people carried on with their lives. Marinette was struck by the normal-ness that was presented the next day. Oh, sure, back at camp it was like this. New camper potentially brings monsters to the border, monster and-slash-or camper(s) die. Everything goes back to normal.

She just wasn't expecting mortals to be so _adaptive_. Baffling, really.

Alya met her on the front steps to school. Taking her arm, she dragged her down to sit next to. "So," Alya started, "by the time I went to the Eiffel Tower, it was all over. I'm way bummed."

Marinette let out a light laugh. "Don't worry, you'll get your scoop eventually."

Suddenly, Alya let a out a big "Oh!" in realisation. "Gurl, I forgot to tell you! Aside from Ladybug and Chat Noir, there's another vigilante in Paris! And they control shadows!"

Marinette froze. She had hoped that Alya forgot that particular encounter. Good thing, Marinette had deception lessons from the Stolls. "Oh?"

Alya nodded excitedly, pulling out her phone. She put I in front of her and Marinette. "Watch this!"

She pressed the play button and Marinette watched the video buffer for a second, before playing.

 _The video showed a person in a dark hoodie. If one looked closely, they could see a darkness surrounding the person. Alya's voice came from behind the camera. "Who are you? What's your purpose? Are you a new superhero?"_

 _The figure tilted their head. A distorted voice came from the hood. "I'm gonna be your murderer soon, if you don't head back to the school and get away from the danger." Behind them, shadows could be observed as flickering and moving closer to them, as if responding to something. The camera zoomed in on them for a moment, thenzoomed out and focused on the figure again._

 _"Are shadows your superpower? Man, that is so cool! He-" The last part was cut off when the person grabbed Alya's shoulders then turned her around so she was facing the direction of the school. "Hey!"_

 _The camera turned back to where the dark figure once stood, only to only met by emptiness. "Where'd they go?"_

Alya took away the phone and leaned closer to Marinette. "There's another one out there!"

Marinette made a noise in the back of her throat. "Shouldn't we be getting to class soon?"

Alya perked up and Marinette wondered for a moment if _Alya_ was the one with ADHD in their friendship.

* * *

"Wait, hold it. I mean, hold up." Marinette gestured for Alya to follow her as she sat in the seats behind Nino. The two girls shared smiles as Bourgeois stomped up to them. "Excuse me, you're in the wrong seat."

Marinette rolls her eyes. "Listen, I may be new here, but I am not putting up with your trash. And neither should anyone else here, so beat it! And make sure to task your attitude with you!" The students behind them laughed and Bourgeois angrily took Marinette's previous seat.

Alya high-fived Marinette. "Good job!"

Just then, Adrien walked in the classroom with a bright smile on his face. Marinette turned away sharply and began pulling out supplies, ignoring the two boys whispering to each other in front of her.

* * *

She watched the rain pour down from her cover. Percy would have loved this, she thought. Someone stopped right beside her. She turned her head to look at them, only to discover it was Adrien.

"Hey," he started. "I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat. I swear. I've never been to school before. I've never had friends. It's all sort of new to me."

"Could've fooled me with Bourgeois."

He looked away. Good. "Chloe is different. She was the first person to hang out with me." He opened his umbrella and put it above Marinette. She tilted her head up to look at his actions. A clap of thunder made her startle. _Holy Zeus!_

She hesitantly we her fingers around the handle of the umbrella, looking dubiously at Adrien. "My ride's already here. I don't need it. You can give it back after school tomorrow."

"This doesnt make us besties."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Marinette just nodded and tightened her grip. She was him go to his car and wave at her, which she hesitantly copied in response.

* * *

That night had Marinette shadow travelling to New Rome. When it was time to leave, she had taken off her earrings, ignoring Tikki's questions. She left the earrings in the box and shoved it back in her drawer.

She landed in an alleyway between the coffee shop and tattoo place. Walking out, she shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight. Oh yeah, jet lag's gonna be a pain. She was out in the open for just a few moments before a dark blur slammed into her.

They both would've fallen to the pavement if not for the shadows that rushed to catch them. The shadows punch them back upright and retreated. Marinette sent a silent thank you after them, be for the bleu steched themself to reveal Hazel.

"Marinette! I didn't think you'd visit this early. In fact, actually, your timing is perfect! C'mon!" She dragged her half-sister towards Pluto's altar. Pushing Marinette inside, she closed the door behind her.

"Mari?"

"Nico?"

Nico tackled her in a hug, burying his face in her neck. Her hands came up to pull him closer. "Missed you."

"How's doing jobs for dad doing?"

He huffed a laugh and pulled away, still keeping an arm around her waist. "Awful, baby face."

Marinette scoffed and stomped on his foot, making him yelp. "Just cause your face is more angular, does not mean I have a baby face!"

"That's exactly what a baby face would say." He smirked at her teasingly. He coughed and his face grew more serious. "Why are you here? Not that I'm not happy about, but is it something serious or are we just hanging out? I'd love for it to be the latter, bu your face said something different."

Marinette smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "It's not serious. It can wait. Is anyone else here and free?"

"Call it something," Hazel said behind them, "but all the children of the Big Three, excluding Thalia, are here."

Marinette grinned and beckoned her closer. She reached an arm around her and pulled her closer, pressing up against her front in a hug. "Great." She kissed her forehead. "I can hang out with my family."

* * *

Finding Percy and Jason was easy.

They practically lit up when they saw Marinette. After another group hug, Percy greeted her with, "Hey, Shortie."

"I'm not short," she scowled.

Jason laughed as they walked along the sidewalk. "Aside from Hazel, you're the shortest. And you're only taller than Hazel by, like, an inch and a half."

"Yeah, well I'm twenty percent water, eighty percent awesomeness, and one hundred percent badass."

Percy gave her a look of confusion. "That's two hundred percent."

"I'm twice the person you'll ever be."

* * *

After getting drinks at the coffee shop, they stopped by the park. Nico nudged her and gave a pointed look in her direction. "What?"

"Tell us."

"Tell us what?" Jason asked.

Marinette put her drink down. "Well, there was a reason I came here instead of staying at Paris. And spending time with you all isn't it." At their expectant faces, she explained all that happened since she came to Paris. She talked about becoming Ladybug, her partner Chat Noir, Tikki, and she put emphasis on her shadow encounter with Alya and the video. She chose not to tell them about the nightmare, not wanting them to freak out.

"Wait,"Jason said. "Wouldn't the Mist cover those up?"

Hazel shook her head and made a negative sound. "The Mist is more of a godly thing."

"But isn't Tikki and the others gods?" Percy questioned.

"Let me rephrase it," Hazel thought for a while until getting an adequate answer. "The Mist covers North America. Originally, it's created by Hecate, so it belongs to the Greeks. But since there are other gods sharing the same land, they also get the benefits of the Mist. The Mist also lingers at the Greek and Roman roots, but not, say, Egyptian roots. Egyptian gods and goddesses use their own protection for those. Also for most of their places here. The Mist for them is just if they have a public fight in front of mortals. So, godly deities that don't inhabit North America dont have the assurance of Mist."

"Plus, Tikki doesn't seem to like the other gods," Marinette hummed.

"I think kwamis' are just territorial."

A look of understanding passes throughout group. Nico broke in with, "But, shouldn't Marinette be covered in Paris?"

Hazel shook her head again. "The Mist doesn't exist in Paris. It's not Greek nor Roman. That's also the reason there's norm monsters there."

Percy shook his head. "Then, the only only you can do, Marinette, is just wait it out."

Marinette took a sip of her drink. "Does that mean I shouldnt do my powers anymore?"

Nico shook his head before she even finished the sentence. "No. Suppressing your powers is bad. Very bad. Especially when this is the stage where all of our powers grow even more. Percy, Jason, Hazel, and I? We're planning to have sparring matches where all and any powers goes. If you stop by every weekend then we can have you in it. But, the difference is, that all of us spends our powers gradually throughout the week. So, it actually would be better for you to use your powers daily at Paris."

Hazel chimed with her own two cents. "If superheroes and villains are running around Paris, then people will just think you're another one! Well, you are one, but I mean when you're doing your powers! Using! Using your powers!"

Jason cut in. "And since you're traveling Paris and back, that should make you tired from the use of your powers already!"

Marinette sheepishly scratched her head. "Well, not exactly. I wasn't tired. At all." Blank looks responded to her answer.

Nico shook it off first. "Well, that just means yours are growing now. Man, these next few years at gonna suck. It's like power puberty, on top of physical puberty!"

All of them groaned at the reminder.

Marinette shook her head. "Nice meeting with y'all again. I'll come back next weekend to beat y'all up."

"Uh, no I am way stronger!"

"Better watch your mouth, Di Angelo!"

"Shut up, Mari."

Marinette cackled as she shadow travelled back to her room at the bakery. As soon as the shadows dispersed, she collapsed on her bed, not bothering to turn off the lights or change into pajamas. Maybe going back and forth _will_ tire her out, after all.


	5. Bubbler

**Okay, y'all:**

 **STUFF ABOUT MY UPDATES ARE ON MY PROFILE.**

 **Should I make a tumblr for my fanfics? Y'all could see sneak peeks at the chapters and new story ideas? If more than four people say yes, then I'll do it.**

 **Adrinette will be part of the end pairing, but I'm sure I'll fit in some stuff Kagami and Marinette later (Adrien/Marinette/Kagami? It's more likely than you think).**

 **STORYTIME!**

When she had gotten back from New Rome, Tikki wouldn't talk to her until Marinette gave her a plate of cookies as an apology of sorts. She fumbled with a fidget cube before looking at the kwami. "Can we transform tonight? I just kinda. . .want to get used to this. It. Being a superhero. Well, not a hero, but like, a super? Works."

After getting Tikki's consent, she transformed and went up to her balcony. Ladybug nervously noted the drop. Silently, she prayed. _Please, uncle, Lord Zeus. Don't kill me. I'll sacrifice a portion of my meals as payment. Please._

She opened her eyes and took a deep breath. Yoyo. Okay. She swirled it once then swung it, making it wrap around a chimney across the street. Leap of faith, here she goes.

When she jumped, it provided a weird feeling of floating. The only thing tying her down was the yoyo and she went fast enough that she only registered her muscles moving when she landed. Ladybug stumbled a bit, nearly tripping on her face. Getting up, she paused, a weird feeling overtaking her. A familiar energy was close by.

Her mind made up, Ladybug started running and jumping to the source, not once using her yoyo. She wanted to get there quick, so she couldn't risk falling.

She got to the same rooftop as the energy, which was near the edge. Prowling, she stuck to the shadows, peering out at the leather clad hero in front of her. An idea formed in Ladybug's mind and she smirked. Slowly making her way towards him, she spoke. "Hi there, kitty. You lost?"

He must've jumped five feet in the air and Ladybug almost lost it when she heard him yowl. Chat Noir landed then whipped around to face her. "M'Lady! Fine evening to see you here. What's got you up?"

Ladybug shrugged. "Trying to get a feel of. . .this. Especially. . ." She waved her yoyo vaguely.

"Oh, yeah. Fear of heights, right?"

Yeah, she thought. Like how Percy and Hazel and Nico have it too. Of course, Thalia has it because why not? Really, the one at fault here was Zeus. Apparently consent was not important back then. Like in Sleeping Beauty. Or Snow White. Damn, Ariel left he entire family for a guy she didn't even talk to. But she was the daughter of Triton, no wonder she wanted to leave. And-

"Hey? Earth to Bugaboo? You okay?"

She focused her gaze back on Chat Noir. "Um, yeah. I'm just getting used to yoyo travel. Why are you out here?"

Chat Noir shrugged and looked away. "Just needed to get out," he said, then brightened immediately after. "I know! We can practice our powers together!"

By the end of the night, they figured out that their weapons could do a lot more than just fight, Ladybug managed to travel around swinging more often (thought she still prefered jumping), and they even tried trading weapons for laughs.

"Well, time to go, Chat Noir."

"Chat. Call me Chat."

"Okay, kitty," she grinned.

* * *

Marinette woke up groggily with Tikki tugging on her hair. She let out a questioning grunt, mind too jumbled to form sentences. Tikki just pointed in the direction of her phone near her computer, where loud ringing could be heard. Marinette groaned and sloppily made her way down.

Rubbing her eyes, she turned off the alarm and took the time to read for anything coming up for that day. It took a second or two before the words registered. Then she toppled over her chair. "Birthday! Adrien! Birthday Adrien! Happy birth-wait he's not here, okay. Wait! Tikki, we're gonna be late! C'mon!"

She nearly tripped down the stairs as Tikki hid in her pocket. Her outfit for the day wasn't the best, just an oversized hoodie (she's pretty sure it belongs to Nico), boys gym shorts (again, probably Nico's), and a T-shirt (maybe Hazel's). Marinette was almost out the door and past Sabine when she called out. "Marinette, its one of your classmate's birthday, isn't it? Can you give this to them?" She handed Marinette a small box with a cupcake in it.

"GIFT! I FORGOT THE GIFT!" Marinette nearly shrieked. She almost forgot the gift! She ran back up the stair and grabbed the blue boxed scarf from her chair, then barreled out the door, quickly snatching the cupcake with a belated "Thank you!" thrown over her shoulder. "Don't forget to clean your room too!" was the response she got.

Arriving to school was tiring, especially when she forgot she could shadow travel. Seeing Nino and Adrien on the front steps, she made her way toward them, only to pause hesitantly. Her relationship with Adrien wasn't the best. But she wanted to turn over a new leaf at Paris. Before she could decide, Alya called her over from the side.

"Alya!" Grateful for the interruption, Marinette jogged over. Alya beamed then looked pointedly at the things in the demigod's arms. Alya shook her head.

"Girl, I know you're nervous, but you gotta go for it! Don't let your crush get in the way!"

"Wait, my wha-ah!" Before Marinette could get her question out, Alya pushed her, making Marinette fall in front of the boys.

"Marinette?"

She quickly got up and dusted herself off. "A-Adrien! I have a you-I have a bir-no, sorry, wait, my mind's all jumbled." She took a deep breath. "I have a gift for you," she pronounced slowly.

She held up the cupcake first, holding the box by one hand. Her other gift was half-hidden behind her. Adrien looked at the box with a light in his eyes. His lips stretched into a grin. "Wow! Thanks, Marinette!"

Marinette smiled. "No problem! I also have a-"

A hand shoved her to the ground, making her land on her bum. She stared on shock at Bourgeois, who was talking to Adrien. She watched as Adrien politely brushed her off, then held out a hand. It took Marinette a moment before she realised it was to help her out.

She gripped it, us in it as leverage to pull herself up. Releasing the hand, she smiled at him. "Thank you, as I-"

She was, yet again, cut off when a limousine rolled up. Adrien sighed and then waved at Nino and her. "I have to go. Photoshoot. Thanks, Marinette, for the cupcake." Waving once more, he went into the limousine, which left as soon as the door was closed.

Nino hummed beside her. "Looks like I have some business with Adrien's old man."

Marinette let out a breath. "Oof. I'd be careful, dude. Mr Agreste is probably like Coraline's mom. Or like, a really grumpy cat. Or like, that one strict science teacher everyone has once in their life. Or-"

"I got it, dudette," Nino smoothly interrupted.

* * *

After school, Alya and Marinette visited the Agreste Mansion. Marinette scrunched up her nose. "There's the mailbox. Now, how do we open it?"

Alya shrugged. "Ring the doorbell?" She pointed to the button.

"Mm, what if we disrupt them? And then Mr. Agreste will think that we're terrible influences and pulls Adrien out of school! He just started, we can't take that away from him! Adrien's a nice kid! He doesn't deserve that!"

Alya just smirked and pressed the doorbell. "You sure that's the only reason?" she asked before a camera came out of the wall. Marinette felt like there was a hidden meaning in the words, but she didn't have time to think about it. A feminine voice came from the camera. "Yes?"

Since it was pointing at her, Marinette was sure that Alya wasn't seen by the camera. "Hello. I'm in Adrien's class and," she took a deep breath. Pretend you're speaking in front of the cohorts, she thought, "I'd like to deposit a gift for him. I apologise, I wasn't able to give I to him during school."

A pause.

"Put it in the box."

Marinette tried not to show any emotion other than the politeness on her face and posture. The metal mailbox from earlier opened and she put the gift in, watching the darkness swallow the blue.

When the camera went back, Marinette turned to Alya. "Whew."

Alya smiled. "Great! Adrien will love it when he sees it's from-" she paused at the look on Marinette's face. "You did sign it, right?"

Marinette chuckled hesitantly. "I don't remember? In my defense, a lot of things were happening!"

Alya winced. "Oh, honey."

* * *

Marinette gloomily poked at her sandwich. She hoped Adrien had gotten her gift by now. She didn't want him to feel like he was being ignored. Marinette knew what that felt like, and she may not be buddy-buddy with him, but it sucked to feel like that. Everyone excluding you. "At least one of us can have a happy birthday," she murmured. The happiest birthday she had since leaving the Lotus Hotel and Casino was when Nico brought a cupcake for them both. It wasn't much, but it was all they had. They didn't need much, only each other. But now they have Hazel.

Sabine looked over. "What did you say?"

Marinette blinked at her. "Oh, never mind. Just talking to myself."

Sabine chuckled then opened her mouth to say something. She barely got a syllable out when a gigantic purple bubble flew into the window and captured her. Marinette started, getting half way out of her seat when the bubble went back out of the window and flew into the sky.

Marinette rushed out to the balcony, yelling. "Sabine? SABINE!" Looking further, she also spotted another familiar face. "TOM!"

Tikki flew out to float next to her. "Hawk Moth must've released another akuma."

Marinette shook her head and headed back in. Parents or not, Tom and Sabine were related to gods, making them partly Marinette's family. And Marinette takes care and protects her family. The rest of Paris could burn. "I've got to find the new villain ASAP. Tikki? Spots on!"

When the transformation was complete, Ladybug rushed out of the bakery, landing next to two kids and a teenager. Above them, the purple bubbles showed an akuma's face. The akuma crowed at them. "And now, party time!" The kid started crying. "Today is your lucky day, little dudes. The adults have taken the day off, so make the most of it. No chores, no homework, no more nagging, just fun, fun, fun, fun. This is the Bubbler's gift to you."

Ladybug rubbed her forearm, right over the SPQR brand. "You'll be alright," she assured the kids. "Chat Noir and I will get your parents." She turned to the teenager and added in an undertone. "You take care of them in the meantime. Try to stop by some daycares and nurseries, see if they need any help. If you come across any other teens, get them to go to those places, or to the hospitals. We'll try to get the adults back, but every helping hand counts."

The teen nodded determinedly and gathered the kids, ushering them away. The kids cheered after her. "Yay! Go, Ladybug!"

* * *

Ladybug headed to the Agreste Mansion. It seemed that the Bubbler was rounding up teens from her class and herding them towards the Mansion. She stopped on a rooftop that had a view of the entrance, where in front of it was a party in the midst. "Its you and me, Bubbler," she muttered.

She stood for a few moments, weighing her options, when something caught her eye. Adrien was talking with a familiar looking blonde. Bourgeois? What were they doing together? Bourgeois said something to Adrien and forced him to dance with her. Ladybug winced when she caught sight if how uncomfortable he looked. "Okay, that aside. What should I do? I cant do anything with my classmates there. I could give him a warning? Okay, Lucky Charm!" A record fell into her hands. "Huh?"

She looked around. Empty record spot. Volume modifier. Ledge on a building. Got it. Ladybug three the record which hit the ledge and bounced over to the DJ booth, hitting the volume way up and landing in an empty spot. Upbeat dance music began to play. All the pairs separated and kept dancing, though they looked a bit more happier.

The Bubbler shouted. "Dude! Who just hijacked my mix!" A laugh had him looking at Ladybug.

"Yours truly." Her earrings beeped. Oh no, time to go. She left, disappearing from sight. She jumped off the roof to the outside of Agreste Mansion. "Spots off."

Tikki's tired eyes peered up at her. "Marinette, you have to get your jealousy under control."

Marinette's nose scrunched up in confusion. "My what?"

Tikki just shook her head, like one of those parents who always thinks they know best. Sorta like Coraline's mom. Kinda. "You know what I mean."

"No. No, I don't, actually. But, hey! Now the Bubbler knows he isn't safe. We gave him a warning and hopefully Chat Noir will arrive soon, but until then, we can get you fed."

She entered the party with Tikki in her purse and a mission to get to the snack table. Grabbing cookies, Marinette put them in her purse and muttered, "I got to find a place to transform."

She sensed a presence behind her and turned around to see Alya looking at her in relief. "Where have you been, girl? I was so scared something had happened to you."

Marinette smiled. "Me too." Truthfully, she had been more preoccupied with the though of Tom and Sabine was concern for Alya was there. Somewhere. Maybe.

Alya shook her head. "I'm sure that Ladybug and Chat Noir will show up soon to save us all. They never failed us. Meanwhile, come with me, I have something to show you."

"I can't."

"Its about Adrien."

"In a sec. I'm gonna go talk to him for a bit."

Alya relented and let Marinette speed-walk toward Adrien. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side. "Hey, Adrien. How's the party?"

He gave her a smile. "Pretty good. I don't know. It's my first one."

"Mmm," she hummed. She stole a discreet look towards the akuma then looked back. "I hope that Ladybug and Chat Noir will come save us, though. I don't think a lot of us are having fun." She gave him a grim smile. His face dropped. "Oh." Before he could say anything, the Bubbler interrupted.

"Hey! You over there! Why are you bothering the birthday boy?"

Marinette turned around and replied. "None of your business."

"I'll make it my business." He emphasised it with a hand in his bubble sword. Marinette huffed and angled her body so that Adrien was behind her.

"I was just asking if he wanted me to make a cake for his birthday. I'm sure the bakery has plenty in storage. I wants to see if he wanted chocolate or vanilla," she lied.

The Bubbler considered it for a moment. "Acceptable. Now why are you guys not dancing? Don't spoil the fun," he said angrily. Everyone started dancing again nervously. Adrien's shoulders dropped even more. "I hope so too," he whispered. Marinette gave him a one armed hug and left. She hurried to inside the Mansion, where she let Tikki out. "Let's stop this pest, Tikki. Spots on!"

When the pink finally faded, Ladybug went back up to the rooftop from earlier. She threw her yoyo and it hit the power strip and unplugged everything, making the music stop. She retracted her yoyo. "Sorry, Bubbler, but the party's over."

He stomped his foot in frustration. "Why you gotta be like that?"

"You made all the adults disappear p, that's why! And now, you're threatening everyone that doesn't have fun." Out of of corner of her eye, she saw Adrien run inside his house. Good, she thought, he'll be safe from the Bubbler.

"You are not going to bust on my party!" He took out his bubble sword and casted two bubbles at her. Ladybug dodged one and then deflected the other, getting back into her defensive position. Where are you, Chat Noir, she thought grimly.

The Bubbler threw more bubbles at her, making her dodge. The class was hiding from the fight, out of harms way for the most part. A bubble came at her, making Ladybug jump back to avoid it. Unfortunately, she landd in the pathway of another bubble, which was going too fast for her to avoid.

She braced herself for the impact, only for a metal staff to hit it back into the air.

Chat Noir grinned at her. "Looks like I made it just in time," he purred. Ladybug smirked. "I had it under control. But thanks."

"Not what it looked like to me."

The Bubbler tired of their banter and let out a stream of red bubbles that interupted them. Ladybug and Chat Noir tried to fend them off until there were too many. Chat got cornered first but Ladybug held out for a few more moments. If only I could use my powers, she thought. She got cornered back to back with Chat Noir, the bubbles turning green.

They started circling around them and sticking to the heroes until all bubbles made a big one that trapped Ladybug and Chat Noir together. Ladybug started struggling against the bubble as the Bubbler laughed at them.

"Give me your miraculous before you run out of air."

"Dream on, you little reject 90's toy."

The Bubbler sighed, as if he'd been expecting that answer. "Total party bummers, just like adults."

"Kids need adult," Ladybug retorted.

"False! Kids need freedom, fun, let loose and live it up. Adults are controlling and bossy."

Ladybug persisted. "But adults keep children safe and protected. They care for their kids, they love them!" At the end, she whispered, "At least, some do."

Chat Noir spoke up beside her. "You must bring the adults back!"

The Bubbler hummed, pretending to think about it. "Nope, never. Know what, since you care so much about these adults, why don't you go float with them for a while?" He ran at them and kicked the bubble of the ground, launching it straight up into the air. Ladybug and Chat Noir yelled in surprise.

Once the situation got got her, Ladybug started to panic. "Oh no. No no no no no no no no no! This .ca not be happening. Am I hyperventilating? I probably am. Chat, what are we going to do?"

Chat Noir put a calming hand on her shoulder. "First, you need to relax."

"Okay," Ladybug nodded. "Relax. I can relax. Rel-Chat Noir, your cataclysm!"

"How did you go from relaxing to that? Cataclysm! Couldn't you have said that five hundred feet ago?"

"I'm sorry, I was panicking!"

Chat Noir touched bubble, making it disintegrate. They both started falling, Chat Noir more calmly than Ladybug, who'd latched on to him. "Your baton, staff, stick, whatever, I'm using those terms interchangeably now, right there!" She pointed to the Eiffel Tower.

Chat Noir followed her gaze. "Got it!" He threw his staff hard enough that it got stuck in the Eiffel Tower. Ladybug changed her grip on him so that her hand was free and swung the yoyo around his staff. They swung and landed safely, the yoyo pulling down the staff with it.

Chat dusted himself off and laughed. "Good thing cats aren't afraid of heights. Unlike some bugs I know."

Ladybug gave him the stink eye. Her heart was still racing in her chest. Ignoring the quip for now, she crossed her arms. "We've got to get to his bubble sword, that's got to be where the akuma is."

Chat Noir's ring beeped and he shared a look with Ladybug. "Better make it quick, LB."

* * *

"Where is everybody? Get out here and party!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Ladybug quipped as she landed. Alya shouted from where she was in the crowd. "Ladybug!"

Ladybug positioned herself so that she was protectively in front of them as the teens yelled their encouragement. "No one wants to party anymore, you Suicide Squad reject."

The Bubbler groaned. "What's wrong with all you guys? Why you gotta be such haters?" He took out his bubble sword and captured all the teens in bubbles. Ladybug and Chat moved forward in an aborted movement to stop him. "NO!"

The Bubbler cackled. "Outer space is the next stop for your precious peeps, and they're never coming back!"

He started jumping from roof to roof, giving Ladybug and Chat Noir no choice but to follow him. He flew to the Eiffel Tower and began throwing explosive bubbles at them. Ladybug looked over at her partner as his ring beeped. Chat Noir grunted. "I'm gonna switch back soon, hurry."

Ladybug nodded. "Lucky Charm!" A wrench almost hit her if it wasn't for her catching it an inch from her face.

Chat Noir looked unimpressed. "Your. . .plumbing skills is gonna help us out?" She shrugged in response and flinched when more bubbles came at them. Swearing, they took cover where the Bubblercouldn't get them easily.

Okay. Think. A vent. The vent pipe. The screw connecting them. The wren-THE WRENCH!

"Got it!" Ladybug ran towards the pipe while Chat was still avoiding the bubbles. She loosened the screw and the pipe came off. It went up to where Chat Noir was standing. "Chat Noir, cover me!"

He caught the pipe. "Go on!"

The Bubbler threw more bubbles at them, but the air flowing from the pipe deflected them. Growling in frustration, the Bubbler raised his bubble sword again, but Ladybug threw her yoyo and snatched it from his grip. She brought it down on her knee, breaking it and making an akuma fly out. Is the akuma the butterfly or the person? Whatever.

"Get out of her, you nasty bug. No more causing trouble for you, little akuma." She purified it, realising the pure white butterfly. "Gotcha. Bye, you little menace. Miraculous Ladybug!"

Ladybug three the wrench up into the sky where it dispersed into pink energy and ladybugs, correcting all the damage the Bubbler made. Most of the energy went up to the sky, bringing every adult back to safety. Chat Noir stood by her side as they watched the Bubbler turn back into Nino.

"Pound it." Before any of the teens could approach the heroes, they both lept onto the rooftops, not stopping until they were a good two blocks away. They stood in silence for a while until Chat Noir posed a question. "Speaking of birthdays, how old are you?"

She gave an amused glance at him. "Under seventeen."

"Really? Me too! Hey do you-" His miraculous beeped again. "Gotta go, M'Lady."

"Bye, chaton."

* * *

So, one of the worst things that could happen, happened.

She _freaking ran out of Adderall._

So she has that going for her.

"This is terrible, Tikki," she groaned. Tikki looked at her Chosen oddly. She didn't know what all the fuss was about the pills. "Do humans usually eat pills, Marinette?" she asked.

Marinette collapsed on her swivel chair. Running a hand through her hair, she answered. "Some do. There are a lot of purposes for a human to consume medication or pills, as you call them. Mine help me focus more. See, I have this thing call ADHD." She started to put socks in her feet, feeling a bit chilly. Actually, she could go for some chili right now.

"ADHD?" Tikki repeated curiously.

Marinette nodded. "It's a thing where I get really energetic and I lose attention sometimes very easily. Well, unless I have that hyper-fixation thingie. Long story short, I need those pills. They help me concentrate." She paused in putting in her socks, tugging on her Camp Half-Blood beaded necklace-turned-anklet. Her fingers brushed over a bead before she continued with the other foot.

Tikki made an understanding sound. "So the medication helps you at school?"

"In the general term, yes. But not to worry, I'll just ask if Tom and Sabine if we can get any more. Shouldn't be that much of a problem, I hope." Marinette started to walk toward the front door. Tikki flew beside her.

"Do humans call their parents by their name?"

Marinette paused. "No, not really. Tom and Sabine aren't my parents though."

"I thought people at school call you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Is that not their last name?" Tikki looked confused.

"Well, they registered me under that name _and_ my actual last name. It's weird, but they just use Tom and Sabine's for simplicity sake. My classmates just kind of assumed that Tom and Sabine are my parents and I'm not finding any reason to tell them other wise," Marinette paused. "Why was I going down stairs again?"

"The ADHD pills, Marinette."

"Oh, right, the pills. I need to-THE LOGO! I need to show them the logo they asked for! Where did I put it, Tikki?" Marinette frantically asked as she backtracked.

Watching her Chosen turn the room upside down, Tikki called out, "In your desk?"

* * *

"Today is going terrible," Marinette complained to Alya. "My head's gonna be going in circles."

Th blogger winced in sympathy. "Well, at least you're taking English, so it won't be too hard?"

A few days.

Her meds are gonna take a few days.

Gods, that's such a long time.

"Yeah, right. Speaking? No problem. Writing and reading? Flunking it all the way."

When they got close enough, they heard Bourgeois scream at her redhead sidekick. "What do you mean not for a week?" her voice carried over.

"There were no adults yesterday to deliver it!"

"So what? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!"

Alya snickered and nudged Marinette. "Ha ha! Serves Chloe right."

They shared a laugh before a limousine pull up. Adrien stepped out of it, a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. "Hey, girls," he greeted before going to Nino.

Marinette smiled at him in surprise and relief. "Oh, that's good. He got my gift. I was worried it wouldn't reach him." Alya smiled at her before hollering at Adrien.

"Yo, nice scarf, Adrien. Off the chain."

Adrien grinned at them. "Yeah, can you believe my dad got this for me?" What. "He's so awesome. He's been giving the same lame pen for three years in a row." _What_.

Nino huffed out a surprised breath. "I guess anyone can change. Adults could be cool when you least expect it."

He and Adrien went on to talk together while Alya turned to Marinette and put a hand on her shoulder. "You have to tell him it was you who knitted the scarf."

Alya turned to Marinette and put a hand on her shoulder. "You gotta tell him you were the one who knitted the scarf."

Marinette shook her head. "But he seems so happy about his dad. I don't want to spoil it for him."

Alya tsked and pulled her into a hug. "Aw, Marinette. You're amazing, girl. You know that, right? And someday Adrien will figure it out too. Promise."

The bell rang.


	6. Mr Pigeon

**OH MY GODS, IS THAT SOME PLOT IN THE CHAPTER?**

 **Guys, a season two character from Miraculous makes an appearance in this chapter, see if you can guess which one.**

 **Also, Marinette will have a different type of dialogue than canon. This isn't even a surprise, I just wanted to let you know that I'm basing this off of what my dialogue is like most of the time. And, I know that some names and places have accents, but my keys are jacked up so I can't type them, sorry.**

 **As always, please review. I'm desperate and very sad.**

 **STORYTIME!**

"Nope."

Click.

"Too boring."

Click.

". . .Is it supposed to represent something?"

Click.

"Wh-OH MY-BACKSPACE."

Click.

"Marinette?"

"TINY CREATURE IN MY ROO-oh, wait you're normal Tikki, sorry."

Tikki tilted her head and blinked. "What are you doing?"

Marinette shrugged, leaning back in her swivel chair. Running a hand through her hair, she replied. "I'm trying to get a feel of Paris fashion. So far," she turned back to the screen and gestured towards it, "the most popular brand is _Gabriel_ and their most popular model is Adrien Agreste, Gabriel Agreste's son. My classmate."

The kwami examined the pictures. "That still doesn't explain why you're saving pictures, Marinette."

The demigod sighed. "I'm gonna print these out as inspiration. Only problem is that I can only seem to find Adrien's pictures."

Tikki shrugged, landing on the desk. "Then just print those out."

Marinette gave a hum. "Okay. Hey, Tikki? If you're a god, does that mean there are. . .other gods? Like other, whatchema call it, panetheons?" she poked at the subject cautiously.

Tikki paused from where she reached for the cookie plate. "Yes," she said slowly. "There are. But we don't interact with them. You shouldn't either. They're unreliable and untrustworthy. Wild and barbaric."

"Surely not all of them, Tikki."

"Most," Tikki relented. "Most are. So, stay away."

Marinette nodded slowly and went back to pictures.

Click.

Click.

Click.

* * *

Mr. Damocles looked over the class. Marinette tried not to squirm in her seat. Nothing good ever happened to her when she met a principal.

"Now, class," he started. "You only have one day to work on your fashion piece, and it must be your own design. In ten hours your fittest presentation will be judged by none other than the great fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, the father of our very own student Adrien Agreste. In fact, Adrien will model the winning design in his next photoshoot. And now, to announce this year's theme: derby hats."

"Derby hats," Marinette repeated dumbly, ignoring the thumbs down from a certain brat.

* * *

"Derby hat, derby hat, derby hat, derby hat...! I don't have any derby hat designs. I've got top hats, caps, even two-horned hats! Need a beret? I'm your girl. A sombrero? No problem-o," Marinette exclaimed, twirling dramatically around. "But a derby! You know what? It won't even matter, 'cause I'm probably going to make a total fool of myself at the event. Most likely trip over my stupid derby and collapse on Mr. Agreste; give him a full-blown concussion and everyone will hate me! I'll never be a world-renowned fashion designer. MY LIFE IS OVER!" Marinette moaned, kneeling at Alya's feet and resting her head on her lap.

Alya started to pet her head and play with her hair. "All this over a derby hat? Give me your sketchbook, girl. Something has to be in there."

Marinette hummed at the feeling and set her sketchbook next to Alya. It was a pretty thing, not much of her style but Tom and Sabine gave it to her when she moved in. It fit their colour scheme with its pink background and white polka dots. "Forget it," she said, muffled. "It's all terrible." She heard footsteps.

"Wow, Alya. Those are some really cool designs. You could win the contest with those." The hand in her hair tightened fractionally.

"Thanks, _Adrien_. But I can't take the credit. These designs belong to Marinette." Marinette raised her hand in greeting and turned her head to look at him, cheek still resting on Alya's knee. Alya continued. "Off the chain, right?"

He smiled at Marinette. "Really talented, Marinette. You have a great chance at winning."

She smiled back. "Well, yeah. I sure hope so. I just like designs that you know. . ." She gestured with her hands, floundering for a word. "The ones that-never mind. Thanks," she finished lamely.

Adrien laughed and rubble his neck. "Sure, and uh, good luck. I hope I'll be wearing your derby hat at my father's next photo shoot." He waved then left, heading towards Nino. The two girls waved goodbye.

"Did you hear? Adrien thinks you're good enough to win!" She checked her phone, other hand back to petting Marinette. "Only nine more hours until show time."

Marinette groaned. "Ugh. I'm off to my secret garden of inspiration, I guess." She pushed herself off her friend and jogged towards the door. She turned her head and waved goodbye, colliding with the wall as a result. "Ow! I'm okay, I'm okay."

* * *

It was a pretty peaceful day, Marinette decided as she sat down. She sketched a few outlines of a person before ripping it out. "Terrible," she groaned. "Flipping terrible day to be under pressure. And designing. Anything. It's too bright. I'm dying. Ugh."

Tikki poked her head out of Marinette's backpack. "You save the world, Marinette. Designing a hat should be a piece of cake."

"Stylish and tasty. That's an idea I could get behind." Marinette sketched a few more lines on a fresh sheet of paper, before shaking her head and turning to a new sheet. A music hat. Presents, who doesn't love presents? Stars are a beautiful thing, perhaps with a sun brooch. Peacock, maybe. Rainbows are beautiful, really gay, love it (maybe give that one to Nico). A very dark base to start, maybe? It's simple, yet effective.

She never once tore a paper out. Piper could find use for those or maybe inspiration would hit her later. After a while passed, a bird call interrupted Marinette. She looks up to discover a man on a bench, surrounded by pigeons. The man threw out a few seeds from a paper bag while a police man walked over.

"Well, happy day," the man crowed to the pigeons. "Splendid is the afternoon day. Ah, Edgar, you fancy one. Fantastic, dazzling performance." The police man had stopped next to him.

"Scram, you winged brats! How many times do you need to be told, Mr. Ramier? NO FEEDING the pigeons! It's strictly forbidden. If everyone feeds them, they'll leave their waste everywhere!" The pigeons scattered from the two men.

Mr. Ramier stared in horror at the other man. "But who's going to feed my poor pigeons?"

The cop shook his head is disdain. "All the park keepers know about you, Mr. Ramier. You've been banned from every park in Paris." Damn, that's a lot. "Leave now, or I'll call the authorities. Oh, wait. I'm the authorities. GET OUT!" Mr. Ramier got up and walked away slowly, head hung.

Marinette hummed and eyed the man. "He really should've known better. Damn, he looked so pathetic I almost feel sorry for him."

Tikki looked at her disapprovingly. "Marinette, don't say that. He's just a unique character. Like a human bird. All he needed was a feather jacket to complete the look."

"Or," Marinette started, a new page already underneath her hand, "a feather hat. Wicked, Tikki. This'll be absolutely wicked."

After that, it was like a floodgate opened. She had an image in her mind and she would not let go of it. A dark base, pitch black. Maybe a ribbon, a shade or two lighter than the base, still black. And tie that ribbon with a golden circle. Some texture around it, made so it looked like razor sharp feathers. And to finish it, a single actual feather sticking from the golden circle.

After turning the page upside down, Marinette wrote her name in gold. When she turned it right side up, the gold looked like a feather design. "Yes!" She got up and twirled around, hugging the book to chest. She held it an arms length away for a couple of seconds to admire it again. Tikki spoke up again. "That's a dark looking derby. But it certainly fits your aesthetic."

"Thanks, Tikki," Marinette smiled. "Told you it is gonna be wicked."

* * *

Making a derby hat hurts, Marinette pouted as she sucked on a pricked finger. But the finished product looked really good. It was exactly like her sketch, except- Marinette looked from the sketch back to the hat, comparing them. The colour's the same, but it's missing some-THE FEATHER!

"A feather!"

"What?"

"A feather! I forgot to grab a feather! This probably, maybe, most likely, not really would have never happened if I had my Adderall! This hat needs to have a feather, Tikki. What am I gonna do without a feather?" Marinette despaired as her head made contact with the desk with a loud thump.

Tikki's voice was hesitant. "Go back and grab a feather?"

Marinette's head was back up in an instant. "Yes! Thank you, Tikki! I-" She stopped as she noticed something under her desk. Bending down, she picked I up and inspected it. "Oh," she said, blinking. "It's a feather. Hey, now we don't have to go back!"

Tikki sighed as her Chosen finished the hat. Marinette stood up, yawning as she arched her back. "I'm done! Time to go downstairs and. . .something, I don't know, maybe the dishes or something. Hey, Tikki, what happens when I take the earrings off?"

Tikki narrowed her eyes. "I go to the Kwami Circle, unless you wish other wise. If the miraculous is corrupted. . . I don't know, that doesn't happen to the Ladybug miraculous. But it is a bad idea. What if an akuma attacks? Marinette d-" The earrings were already taken off and Tikki yelped as she disappeared. Earrings in the box in her hoodie pocket, she got up to go. . .somewhere. Without Tikki hovering over her shoulder and watching her every step.

Jogging, she made her way down the trapdoor and went into in the living room. "I'm done and going to sleep after I eat my weight in ice cream, hot chocolate, and pastries. Also cookies. Those are amazing," she said aloud. Before she could go to the kitchen, the TV caught her attention.

A lady with a blue suit talked while a picture was shown beside her. "Pigeons have taken over Paris. This is just one of the many alarming situations giving the authorities cause of major concerns. Yes, I've just been told that someone named Mr. Pigeon is making an announcement."

The camera went to show an obvious akuma. "Oh, dreary day, poor Parisians. Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but Paris now belongs to the pigeons! Flap flap!" Mr. Pigeon cooed.

"Oh no," Marinette said. She fumbled to get the box out of her pocket, stumbling towards the steps, when she tripped on a loose floorboard. "No. No no no no no no," she whimpered as she watched it roll down the stairs. Scrambling, she raced after it until it rolled into a blue bag. Marinette let out a breath of relief. "Now to just-what."

The last part was said in a completely flat tone as one of the customers picked up the bag and starts to walk out the door. A squeak came out of her but she didn't pay it any mind as she chased after the person. This can not be happening, she thought. She kept getting close, but then the crowd pushed them apart, and it was _so frustrating_. She ended up in an alleyway, keeping an eye on the person and going over the options in her head.

Marinette let out a groan before letting the shadows wrap around her. This is gonna be a thing, isn't it, she thought as she went back into the crowd, me scaring people. At least they actually freaking move. People parted like the plague, some even screaming when they saw the dark figure. She was able to go after the blue bag with no problem. Of couse, that was before the person tripped and Marinette could just make out the box rolling to the feet of a blue haired girl.

Marinette whined silently as she shadow travelled to an alleyway closer to the gal. How can an angular box roll so much? People stared and whispered in horror and suspicion at where the figure disappeared. Marinette eyed them for a moment from where she landed, before dismissing them and focusing back on the girl who was reading a book.

Acting skills on, Marinette thought as she slipped out of the alley. Jogging up, she put on a breathless act, stopping next to the bench. "I am so sorry," she panted. "My thing just. . . I'm so sorry, let me just-" She bent down to pick it up. When she got it, she got back up and was face to face with the girl. "Oh, uh, sorry," Marinette said, not having expected the girl to be that close.

The girl opened her mouth, but had no opportunity to speak as Marinette then escaped back into the crowd of people, not relaxing until she had walked a block away. Ducking into yet another alleyway, she took the box and quickly put on the earrings. Tikki appeared, but before she could get a word out, Marinette quickly transformed.

* * *

"Now this is weirder than weird," Ladybug said, looking at the pigeon planes. A voice from above agreed with her.

"Birds of a feather, flock together." The voice sneezed and Chat Noir tumbled down, nearly falling off the roof. "I'm allergic to feathers," he explained, then sneezed again.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "That's helpful," she sarcastically uttered. Chat Noir stood up and nodded in agreement, rubbing his nose. "Tell me about it. These birds are only part of the problem. The park keepers in Paris-at least around here-are vanishing without a trace."

Ladybug straightened. Now this was news to her. "What? Great. Now we have to track down Mr. Pigeon ASAP. Wait, do we really need to?"

"Unless you want them to keep disappearing," Chat Noir drawled. He huffed in exasperation when Ladybug levelled him with a mock-innocent look. "M'Lady, _no_. Now, where are we going to find him?"

"I," Ladybug paused, "may have an idea."

* * *

"You know what? Next time, I'm making the plan." Chat Noir looked to the side as his partner stifled her giggles. Ladybug looked down from where she sat in a tree. "Don't worry, you look just like a park officer."

"Aren't they called rangers?"

"Aren't you supposed to be acting natural?" Ladybug retorted. Chat Noir nodded and crossed his arms, whistling. After a while, the whistles turned into the melody of one of Jagged Stone's songs and he started dancing to the beat. He stopped when an acorn hit him in the neck.

"Ow!" he cried, grabbing his neck.

"Act natural, else he'll never show up," Ladybug hissed.

Chat Noir went back to standing with his arms crossed, looking around casually. "Shouldn't he have been here by-ACHOO!" He interrupted himself with a sneeze. Pigeons were flying over them. Ladybug tensed and reached a hand to grab her yoyo, but the pigeons abducted Chat before she could do anything. "What the. . .?"

She had no more time to stare however, because the pigeons were already moving. She cursed quickly before following them on the rooftops, jumping up to the roof of the Le Grand Paris hotel where the pigeon dropped Chat Noir. Chat sneezed again, Malkin the pigeons look at him while Ladybug stayed where she was, a few feet away.

"Where's that bird-brain Mr. Pigeon?" Chat asked, rubbing his nose. Ladybug shrugged and took a step in the other direction, looking around. A large coo sounded from around them and the birds started to circle the two teens. Chat tightened his grip on his staff. "Any ideas, bug?"

Ladybug made a noise in the back of her throat, shrugging. She hesitantly opened her mouth before an object hit her square in the back, knocking her into Chat Noir. She pushed away from him as a gigantic, metal cage slammed over them. A chuckle had them turning their attention to Mr. Pigeon, who was standing on a cloud of pigeons.

"Turpy day, I'm so ruthless," he chortled. Ladybug scrunched her nose up. Her back agreed with him. Mr. Pigeon made another call of bird noises. "Your Miraculous, give them to me or face the wrath of my feathered friends!" He did another bird call and son of the birds started banging on the top of the cage, while the ones on the ground turned around and pointed their behinds at the two superheroes. "Dada-dee, on the count of three, my beloved pigeons will commence fire. You can still save your sorry skins by handing over your Miraculous. One, two. . ."

"Bars! Chat Noir, bars!"

Thankfully, Chat Noir knew what she meant. "Cataclysm!" He destroyed the bars and all the pigeons flocked away from them. The two teens advanced on Mr. Pigeon, twirling their weapons. "Well, well," Chat Noir smirked. "Looks like the pigeon's really a chicken."

Mr. Pigeon looked taken back for a moment, then collected himself, making another bird call. "Me? I'm not flying away. I'm just killing two birds with one stone!" He did yet another bird call and trust fell off the roof, letting his pigeons catch him and fly away. "Happy birthday!" he tossed over his shoulder as a group of pigeons dived towards the two partners who made a run for the roof top door. They barely made it inside in time to slam the door, listening as pigeons slammed into it from the other side.

"Um," Ladybug protested. "Down?"

Chat Noir nodded fervently as his ring beeped. "Down," he agreed. "I've gotta get out of here before my secret identity is revealed."

They turned around to go down the steps. "Yeah, wouldn't want the cat out of the bag," Ladybug commented mildly.

"Ha ha, very funny," Chat Noir deadpanned. They made it to the entrance hall and saw a crowd gathered in it. A large man in a suit seemed to be trying to calm them down. "Who's that?" whispered Ladybug. Chat shot her an odd look. "Andre Bourgeois, the Mayor."

Ladybug nodded. "Not from around here, you see."

Mayor Bourgeois quickly made his way over when he saw the two heroes. "Ladybug, Cat Noir! I'm in great danger of losing big bucks if my guests leave Paris! You are going to get rid of those pigeons, aren't you?" he pleaded. Chat Noir's ring beeped again, making him nervous.

"Of course we are, but before that I have an urgent need." He was fidgeting and his voice sounded nervous. Mayor Bourgeois blinked but then an understanding look came over his face. "I see, head to the royal suite. There's paper in there, but perhaps you would prefer... a litter tray?"

"Uh, no need for litter, thank you. But, er, could I have some Camembert?" After getting a nod, Chat Noir rushed up the stairs, leaving the mayor looking at Ladybug. Shrugging, she left to go up the stairs too, intent on meeting up with her kitty.

Finding a wall to lean against, she watched as a butler made his way to a door and stopped him. "I'll do it," she assured him, taking the platter away. The man blinked, but something in her expression must assured him as he left to cater to someone else's needs. Or maybe he just didn't want to argue with a superhero.

Holding the platter in one hand, she opened the door, enough to let her arm in but not so that she could look. "Here, Chat Noir." A hesitant hand took the platter and Ladybug withdrew, going back to leaning against the wall with a calculative look on her face, thinking on how to track the akuma.

"Well, earlier in the lobby, they were all heading to that one place," she mused outloud. The door opened in front of her and Chat Noir stepped out with a grin on his face. Ladybug shushed him without looking, mind already working up a plan. She strode into the room, heading towards the big windows, leaving Chat Noir to turn and keep up. "There," she pointed. "That building."

Chat followed her gaze. "Well, let's go catch that bird, M'Lady."

* * *

"So that's the rangers' location," Ladybug muttered as she looked around the empty building. Chat nudged her. "The Grand Palais." He started to sneeze, by Ladybug was quicker and stopped him. "My pigeon radar is on high alert," he said.

"Might be broken. Don't see any pigeons or the Mr."

Chat Noir grinned and rubble his hands together. "Let's set the cat among the pigeon!" He tried to go forward but Ladybug tugged on his ear, pulling him back. "Too easy," she said, shaking her head. "I have a plan."

They ran around the building's outside, ending somehow on the roof, looking down through a skylight window. "If we destroy the bird call, we'll be able to capture the akuma," Ladybug confidently said. "You open the window, I'll grab him and yank him onto the roof. You snag the bird call away from him."

Chat Noir nodded and rolled his shoulders. "Let's go, early bird gets the worm!" Ladybug readied her yoyo, aiming as Chat started to open the skylight. Steady, steady, aim, fi-a sneeze startled her, making her miss Mr. Pigeon. She winced. "So mush for the element of suprise."

Ladybug and Chat Noir jumped down to next to Mr. Pigeon who jumped back and let the pigeons catch him. Ladybug started to feel extra jittery. "No time to waste, Lucky Charm!" A coin fell into her hand. "What?" She flipped it experimentally to see if it was like Jason's but, much to her disappointment, it didn't magically turn into a weapon. "What am I suppose to do with this?"

Okay, Ladybug. Think. Think. Think. What can you use? A beam. Vending machine. Coin.

Mr. Pigeon threw a sphere of pigeons at them and Ladybug quickly ran towards him, sliding under him and hooking her yoyo around his left ankle. Smoothly getting up again, she jumped up to a high beam and then back down, making the yoyo a pulley.

Running towards the vending machine, she quickly pushed on the buttons, getting popcorn with the coin. After this she is _so_ getting herself some popcorn. She quickly threw the bag up into the air. "Chat Noir!" Ladybug yelled.

"On it!" The metal staff hit open the bag, spilling it everywhere. The pigeons flocked towards it while Ladybug pulled on her yoyo, lifting the akuma by his ankle. The bird call fell to the ground. "My bird call! No!" Mr. Pigeon squawked.

"Chat Noir, grab it!" Ladybug encouraged her partner. He grabbed it but a sneeze made him throw it upwards. Ladybug let go of the yoyo and started towards it, letting Mr. Pigeon down roughly. Ladybug was almost there (thank Hades for those tree nymph races) but as she was nearing, she tripped on feathers. Cursing in her head, she lunged for the bird call. Mr. Pigeon got there first but Chat Noir and Ladybug's hands kept him from getting up.

Ladybug shoved Chat's hands away and hit Mr. Pigeon's, making the bird call break underneath. "Yes!" the butterfly fluttered up from the broken bird call. Ladybug let go of Chat Noir's hand and stood up. "Don't go terrorizing other people, darling. It's not polite!" She captured it in her yoyo, purifying it and watching the white butterfly float away.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" The bird call repaired itself and all the park keepers returned to their stations. Mr. Pigeon turned back into Mr. Ramier, who shook his head, holding a hand up to it. "What happened? Where am I?"

Ladybug and Chat Noir fist bumped.

"Pound it!"

* * *

Hawkmoth angrily watched as his last victim was consoled by the two superheroes. He growled as his window started closing. "Wretched pigeons, wretched Ladybug," he cursed. "I'll destroy every one of you!" His window finally closed and he released the transformation. Nooroo warily flew out of reach as his Chosen remained standing, looking deep in thought.

"Every single one of them," he swore. "Even that odd shadow figure. Though maybe I can convice them to join me. There's a lot I could offer, after all." He chuckles, ignoring the skitterish butterflies and kwami.

* * *

"Marinette, are you listening to me?"

"Uh-huh," Marinette hummed, sewing on the final thread. "It was really dangerous what I did and, uh, I shouldn't do that in the future-hey, that reminds me, would you mind if I did it, like, every weekend, maybe? Great? Good. Wait, I'm late!"

Marinette hurriedly put the hat in a box, getting out of her chair so quickly that the chair flew backwards. She shoved on some shoes and grabbed a hooded jacket. Tikki let out a frustrated noise, barely having enough time to fly into one of the pockets.

* * *

She arrived just in time to slam the box quietly on a stand that Alya was saving for her. Alya raised an eyebrow at her, phone swinging by her side. "Where have you been? You got your hat?"

Marinette nodded proudly and took off the lid to the box, revealing the sharp looking hat. Alya looked at it with an amazed expression before it bled into a dark one. Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

Alya leveled a helpless look at her and gestured. "But, it's the same as Chloe's!"

"What!" Marinette squawked. They both looked at where the blonde was talking to the tablet, taking in the hat besides her. "That thieving little brat!"

Alya nudged her. "Do you want me to take care of it?"

Marinette straightened her jacket, composing herself. "I think I can handle this," she briskly said. She positioned the hat onto the stand and Alya wondered how someone could look so in control in an oversized jacket, a t-shirt, and jeans. Marinette stood back as the judges reached the stand, the tapping on her ring-bracelet the only break in composure.

Mr. Agreste raised an eyebrow. "Hm, turn tour tablet back to Ms. Bourgeois' hat." The judges turned back, looking between the two identical hats. "Is this a joke?" Mr. Agreste demanded.

Bourgeois crossed her arms and pouted. "No fair! Marinette copied my design! It's scandalous, how could you do that?" She started fake-crying.

Marinette pursed her lips. "I apologize for the situation, Mr. Agreste, but I can prove that this derby hat in my original design."

"Go ahead."

"Well, everything on my derby hat is hand-made. From the embroidery, to the weaving of the band, to the stitching of the brim. All done by myself. And, if one were to pay attention, then they'll find that because this creation is for a contest, and not, say, a birthday gift for a friend, I incorporated something in this that only the true designer knows about: I signed mine."

She turned it over to reveal the word _Marinette_ stitched in gold, before walking to where Bourgeois was watching all of this with a furious expression. "And, since I'm sure who ever did this copied it very well, if you'll look at Ms. Bourgeois' hat again, then you'll see that it also have my name on it." Marinette illustrated her point by doing the same thing and allowing the judges to see the signature.

Bourgeois bursted into real tears this time, running out of the place. Mr. Agreste nodded from the tablet. "Very exquisite creation. You definitely have the laboring hands of a hat maker, miss..."

Adrien, who almost gave Marinette a heart because she didn't see him before, supplied her name: "Marinette."

Mr. Agreste continued on, "Congratulations on your demonstration, Miss Marinette. You're the winner. Adrien will wear your derby on our next advertising campaign."

She smiled. "Thank you."

Mr. Agreste and the other judges went away, presumably to discuss other matters and Adrien turned his head towards her. "Awesome job, Marinette." He tried to put in the hat but stopped to sneeze. "Achoo! Sorry, I'm allergic to feathers." He sneezed again.

"Woah, don't die on me now, Adrien!"

"Thanks."

Marinette smirked. "No problem. Anyway, it won't be difficult to replace the feather." She took the hat from his hands, putting it back in the box. "It didn't look sharp enough anyway."

"Yeah, I was meaning to talk about that," he said. "The hat is very. . . dark looking. Sorta menacing, too."

"That's my style, Goldilocks. Bye."

"Goodbye, Marinette. Alya," Adrien said.

Alya joined her as they both watched Adrien walk away. "So," Alya glanced slyly at the demigod. "I got another clip of the shadow person!"

Marinette felt her posture go from relaxed to tense. "Oh?" she asked, tone deceptively light.

"Yeah! They appeared at one of the streets today! Sadly, there's still no way on how to figure out their identity. All people saw were them coming out from an alleyway. Though, that doesn't do much good since there are no camera footage of anyone entering that alleyway!"

Marinette nodded in false sympathy as her friend switched the topics to Ladybug and Chat Noir, raving about her idols.


	7. Stormy Weather

**Hi, y'all!**

 **So, quick question: I have a doc that's my season 1 notes. When I get to the end of writing season one, do you guys want me to post them as an interlude or something? Or no?**

 **Happy New Year's btw.**

 **Please read and review; all mistakes are my fault; relax and enjoy; and does anyone know/remember if I mentioned Marinette having a necklace in this story?**

 **STORY TIME!**

Marinette collapsed on the couch from exhaustion. She had just gotten back from the first 'Power Sparring Session' with her cousins. She'd been doing great until all of them teamed up on her. Marinette groaned and tried wiggling her toes, not quite exactly feeling them.

Sabine eyed her from the sink, drying the dishes. "I hope you're feeling better now that you have your Adderall, Marinette."

"Great," came the muffled reply.

Sabine smiled and shook her head, putting the last dish on the rack. Wiping her hands, she started for the stairs, calling over her shoulder, "I hope so, since you're babysitting after school today."

"WHAT?"

* * *

Alya didn't wait for Marinette to sit down before she started talking about a new theory. "Anyway, the Ladyblog has been blowing up!"

Marinette made a vague noise of acknowledgment, lifting her head up when she heard another voice chime in from in front of her. "I saw the most viewed video was both of those shadow ones!" Adrien said, twisting around in his seat.

Alya nodded energetically, tapping her phone. "Yeah! I bet Ladybug is the shadow vigilante. Get this, they're the same height! And they're never in the same place together! By that logic, Chat Noir couldn't be them since I saw him right before my first encounter with them!"

"By that logic," Marinette dryly stated, "Ladybug could also be Hawk Moth," she said, not realizing that some of her other classmates were paying attention to their conversation by now, "since, you know, they're never in the same place together. Also, Ladybug's height? Is like the most average height in Paris. The most average of average." But not the most average when your family has godly blood, making them unfairly tall, she added in her mind.

Alya opened her mouth to retort before the teacher walked in and everyone got out their stuff.

* * *

"Marinette, here's Manon, the little girl I told you about." Sabine was holding onto the hand of a little girl with brown high pigtails. "You and her can stay in here, or go outside, or whatever. But she is your responsibility until she gets picked up, okay?"

Marinette eyed Manon from her spot on the stairs. "I'm bad with responsibilities, but okay. C'mon, Manon. I'll show you to the living room."

Manon followed her up the stairs to the living room, staring at her with large eyes. Marinette awkwardly gestured to the couch and TV. "You can stay here and watch stuff while I go change, considering that I'm in rainbow printed pajamas, right, Manon? I'll be only a moment. Do you need me to turn in the TV?"

"No," said Manon. "I know how. Thanks, uh. . ."

"Marinette."

"Thanks, Marinette."

She smiled and went up the stairs, content that Manon wouldn't burn the house down. Getting to her room, Tikki flew out, staring at her, much like how Manon did earlier. "At least you'll learn some responsibility, Marinette."

Marinette sighed from where she was putting on her shirt. Her relationship with the kwami was tense considering the arrangement: Marinette could take the earrings off every now and then and Tikki had as much sweets she wanted. Marinette knew she sometimes had to skip the Power Sparring Sessions (PSS) and made up for it by using her powers every day, little by little. Like making a corner more dark, or trying to push something in the bakery while she was in her room. Little things.

She went downstairs to see Manon watch some KIDZ+ studio fashion contest. "Hey, Manon."

Manon looked up and her eyes widened. "Woah. You look like one of those girls my mom won't let me near."

Blinking, Marinette looked down at her outfit. Frayed black short shorts, a black long sleeve with a silver skull, and a purple hoodie tied around waist. Yeah, she could see why. "Do you want me to change?" she asked.

"No, you look good," Manon decided. "What's wrong with your legs, though?"

Oh, right. Marinette winced as she remembered that she had a series of scars caused by scratches from monsters on the inside of her calf. "An accident. Do you want me to change?" she asked uncertainly.

"No." Manon shook her head. "Hey, what's this?" She held up an unfinished hat, the rainbow cap Marinette was making for Nico.

"No, Manon, give it," Marinette sternly said, narrowing her eyes and holding out a hand. Manon quickly withdrew the hat, holding it to her chest.

She shook her head. "But I want to be a fashion designer too!"

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Marinette lunged towards Manon, falling onto the couch. "Manon, please," she said, getting up, "it's not finished! You're gonna ruin it!"

Manon just giggled and raced around the room. Marinette groaned before swiping the little girl from the floor and taking the hat away. Manon just wiggled out of her grip and took the home phone on the kitchen counter. "I'm gonna vote for Mireille, she's the best!" Manon proclaimed.

"First off: Aurore clearly put more effort into her outfit to try to fulfill the theme, while Mireille looked like she barely put any effort," Marinette said, snatching the phone, "and second: why am I doing this again?"

Tikki peeked out from her hiding spot. "Stay low, Tikki," Marinette hissed.

Tikki giggled. "Don't worry. You know what? If you can handle Manon for a day, any villain here on out will be a piece of cake."

The doorbell rang and Tikki went back to hiding, th away in one of the hoodie's pockets. Marinette went to go answer, jumping over the couch. "Alya?" she asked as she opened the door to reveal the blogger.

Alya grinned. "Hey, I-what happened to your legs?" she questioned.

Marinette shrugged. "An accident. What were you saying?"

"Oh, right! I got a huge scoop for you. Guess who's on a phtoshoot in the park?"

"Adrien? Now? Are we going to go see him?" Marinette asked, unsure as to where the conversation was going.

"As we speak," Alya confirmed. "And, yeah we're going! C'mon!"

"Uh, who's she?" a voice interrupted. Marinette's eyes widened and she hurriedly turned around to see Manon peeking up at her and Alya.

"I forgot to introduce you two," she said. She picked up Manon, setting her on her hip. "This little beasty is Manon. Manon, this is Alya."

Alya nodded. "I'm a mythical unicorn from the world of Rispa, disguised as a totally fabulous human girl. I grant magical wishes, but only to little monkeys who behave!"

Manon laughed before cuttin herself off. "No, you're not!" She paused for a second, before hesitantly asking, "Are you?"

"Well, let's all go to the park!" Marinette interrupted. "Okay?"

"Yay!"

"Okay."

* * *

"So, do we just sit here and wait until he's finished?" Marinette asked, shielding her eyes from the sun. Adrien was near the fountain, posing in front of the camera. "I think they're taking a break in a few minutes, we could talk to him then."

Alya shrugged. "Well, I was hoping for a bit more action from you, but you could invite him for a smoothie."

Marinette adjusted Manon on her hip and looked at her. "Hear that, Manon? You want to get a smoothie or no?"

Manon nodded and asked, "Later though, right? I don't want to leave the park so soon, Marinette." She topped it off by widening her eyes and blinking innocently.

Marinette shrugged. "Well, until we can ask Adrien, I don't know. Alya, do you want to talk to him, or do want us to come with you, considering that the break just started." She pointed over to where the photographer had stopped taking pictures and instead was rubbing his chin in thought, a frustrated look on his face.

"Yes! C'mon, ladies!" Alya's eyes brightened and she started dragging the two others to where Adrien was looking at them curiously.

"Hey, Adrien," Marinette and Alya greeted. The blond smiled at Marinette. "Hey Alya, Marin-woah, Marinette, what happened to your leg."

Marinette adjusted Manon once more. "An accident. Say-" Manon started tugging on her hair. "What, Manon?"

"Can I get a balloon with Mireille on it?"

"Er, sure. Alya, can you ask Adrien while I go with Manon?" Marinette asked. "She wants to go get a balloon. Okay? Thanks." She speed walked over to the stand, only half hearing Alya protest behind her.

"I want a purple one!" Manon insisted as they looked at the balloons. Marinette nodded and switched Manon to her other hip so she could pay for the balloon.

"Thank you," Marinette said. "Manon, say 'thank you'!" It must have been very tiring to be standing all day in the sun.

"Thank you!" Manon said sweetly. In a lower tone, she asked, "Can we go to the merry-go-round, now? I want to go on the merry-go-round!"

Marinette walked away from the stand. "Manon, we should be getting back to Alya and Adrien."

Manon pouted. "You promised! You aren't going to break your promise, are you?"

"Sweetheart, I didn't promise anything, so miss me with that trash." Marinette raised an eyebrow. "But," she relented, "we can go to the merry-go-round. Adrien and Alya are teenagers, they should be able to take care of themselves. Mostly." Hopefully, they weren't like other teens Marinette knew.

She just put Manon on the merry-go-round when Alya ran up to her, panting, "They need an extra to pose with Adrien!"

"Uh, okay." Marinette had a slightly panicked look in her face. She had no idea why her friend was telling her that. Manon looked between the two. "Is that boy your boyfriend?"

"What? No," Marinette shook her head.

"Well?" Alya shook the demigod's shoulder. "Go on! What are you waiting for?"

"But, Manon? Who's going to look after her?"

"I'll do it!" Alya waved a hand in the air. "You take care of Prince Charming, and I'll take care of Miss Unicorn here."

"Oh-well-okay!" Marinette turned to Manon. "I'm going to go do something, and then after that we'll get smoothies, okay, Manon?"

"No way." Manon shook her head. "You're my babysitter!"

Alya shoved Marinette away from the merry-go-round. "Trust me. Unicorns unite! Let's go to Rispa and find us some sad little village kids and grant those wishes! Yee-haw!"

"Yee-haw!"

Marinette bit her lip. "Well, actually maybe I should stay. Or Manon can come with me! Or-huh?" She saw a dark looking girl with pigtails and an umbrella. While normally she'd love the colour scheme, the fashion internal was bad. Maybe with with few changes her and there it'll look exceptional, but as it is, it looked like a badly thrown together toddler costume.

She barely dodge the ray of ice that came from the parasol, incasing the merry-go-round in a ice dome. "Tikki, I really hope you're still in my pocket," Marinette murmured, "because I think we'll have to transform."

She ran into an alleyway across the street, making sure no one was near her before Tikki flew out of her pocket. "Tikki, spots on! Yeah!" A bright pink light enveloped her and she felt her hair flow out of the ponytail into two pigtails tied with red ribbons while her clothes were replaced with a red and black suit.

After the light dissolved, Ladybug immediately rushed back towards Alya and Manon, whispering, "Why did I leave Manon? I should have never done that! No. Alya's right. She's in good hands. Hopefully." She arrived at the dome and stared at the pair. "I'm going to try and get you out of there, stay calm."

She tried wire-cutting the dome only for the yoyo to slip right off. "Or not? Damnit, on to plan B!" She ran back up to the dome. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be okay!"

Manon looked at her with wide eyes. "Where's Marinette?"

Ladybug crouched down to be eye-level with the kid. "She sent me to check on you guys. If she's smart, she'd hiding in a shop or building." But she's not, so she's out in the open with a yoyo and a skin-tight suit while an akuma is on the loose.

To be fair, she never claimed to be smart in these type of situations.

* * *

No, no, not there, Ladybug thought as she ran down the streets looking for her partner. They needed to regroup to task on the akuma. Hopefully Chat Noir didn't try to confront the akuma by himself-

"AAAAAHHH!" Chat Noir came flying down the street, landing by her feet. Ladybug rolled her eyes and helps him up.

"I thought cats always landed on their feet," she grumbled. She distractedly swung the yoyo a few times by her side. Chat Noir took her hand and brushed a kiss over her knuckles. "Thanks, M'Lady, but I had it covered. Also, the akuma calls herself Stormy Weather."

Ladybug gently pushed him back by his nose. "Uh, didn't look like that to me, KitKat. But, your welcome. And, thanks for the name!"

Stormy Weather floated above them. "We should be expecting lightning storms like right NOW!" She used her parasol to make the sky darken with storm clouds and lightning. Ladybug pulled her and Chat Noir, barely avoiding a blast of energy from the akuma.

Chat Noir cracked his neck. "You just won yourself a cat fight!"

Stormy Weather growled. "Black ice!" The streets glazed over with ice and wind blasted from her direction. Chat Noir was lifted from the ground and thrown back.

"Gotcha!" Ladybug caught him, preventing him from doing pinball with cars. Stormy Weather broke a screen in the side while Chat righted himself.

"A little Chat Noir will take the wind out of her sails!" Chat Noir said, lunging forward. Ladybug stopped him by his belt-tail-thingy.

"Whoa, kitty kitty. You better think before you leap," she said, letting go of her grip. Chat Noir backed up unit he was back at her side.

"You got a plan?"

"Uh," Ladybug hesitated. "Just follow my lead." She started running along the face of a building, hoping that Chat Noir was copying her on the other side of the street. They tried getting the jump on Stormy Weather, only for her to see them and fire a windy blast, knocking them back throught the air, along with several vehicles.

They landed harshly on the street, curled up. Ladybug go up first, then saw a bus about to flatten them. "Um," she protested as she quickly crouched over Chat Noir, who was slowly rising. She forced both of them down as she used her yoyo as a shield, cutting a circular hole on the side of the bus, saving her and her partner.

They slowly got up as the yoyo stopped spinning, falling onto Ladybug's head. "Ow."

"Ha!"

* * *

Ladybug and Chat Noir ran down the street, pausing in their search. Ladybug looked around. "Maybe she's got some anger issues!" she said, turning back to her partner.

Chat nodded. "Or she didn't pass her driving test!"

The screen crackled to life above them as Stormy Weather filled up the screen. "Hello, viewers! Here's the latest forecast for today. Looks like Mother Nature had a change of plans. Warm weather is officially _over!"_

Chat pouted and wiggled his eyebrows at Ladybug. "Already? But I look so good in a swimsuit," he smiled.

"The cat suit will do, thanks." Ladybug rolled her eyes. "And that background looked familiar. . . Chat, do you know where it is?"

Chat Noir nodded. "It's the KIDZ+ studio, not far from here actually."

Ladybug smiled and clapped her hands. "At least now we know where to find her."

Stormy Weather continued on the screen. "Prepare for the worst weather in history!"

"Actually," Chat furrowed his eyebrows, tilting his head at the screen, "she reminds me of that girl from the competition. Y'know, the one with dozens of merch of her and the other girl."

"It's her!" Ladybug exclaimed. "The akuma should be in her parasol, then!"

Stormy Weather left left parting message before the screen went black: "In Stormy Weather's world, it's winter wonderland FOREVER!"

* * *

"Hiyah!"

The double doors to the studio were kicked open as Ladybug and Chat Noir entered. Ladybug looked around but all she could see was a small TV in front if the camera that showed Stormy Weather. "It's a recording!"

Stormy Weatger laughed behind he and Ladybug whipped around to see her at the entrance, firing at the lights. The lights went out and the room was pitch black. Ladybug blinked rapidly for a second for her vision to come back to her. Being a child of Hades meant they had superior sight in the darkness most of the time. Looking around, she saw Chat a few paces beside her.

"Frosty the Snowgirl's getting away!" Oh, right. Chat didn't know she could see in the dark. Just to be sure, she made herself trip on a piece of rubble. "Oh, do I hear a damsel in distress?"

"Most of the population don't have night vision..," she said. It wasn't a lie, most people _didn't_ have night vision. "Woah!" she yelped as Chat grabbed her hand. "What are you doing?"

"No need to bug out. Just trust me! At least in this, Ladybug," Chat said. Ladybug gave a helpless shrug as he guided them to the stairs. Turns out all the lights were off in the building.

Soon the act became annoying. Ladybug got her hand out of Chat's grip. "Okay, that's enough. I think I can manage to-"

"Duck!"

She saw a fire extinguisher canister coming towards her and ducked, hearing it clang near her. "Uh," she cleared her throat, "follow your lead on this one!"

Chat Noir grabbed her hand again and lead her to the rooftop where Stormy Weather was waiting for them. She cackled. "You airheads! You fell right into my trap!" She made a whirlwind appear with her parasol. "There's no way out! Party's over, fools!"

Ladybug straightened up. "We're just getting-Chat please remove your hand from mine-started, Stormy! Lucky Charm!" A bath towel fell into her hands. "Huh? What am I suppose to do with this?"

Chat shrugged beside her, readying his baton. "Great. So, we're about to be obliterated, but at least we'll be dry."

Ladybug hit him with the towel gently. "Just hold your whiskers."

Stormy Weather yelled, "Hail!"

Hail started to rain down in them, the smallest being the size of Ladybug's fist. Chat stood in front of her while she crouched, trying to come up with a plan. He twirled his staff so it deflected the ice chunks. "So what's the plan for getting the akuma back? My arm's starting to get a cramp!"

Ladybug looked around. The was. . . an HVAC tube, bath towel, and a sign. "See that sign over there? Check it out!"

Chat nodded. "Alright. Cataclysm! Hey, Coldilocks!" he yelled. "Is that all you got?"

Stormy Weather threw a lightning bolt at him but he dodged and ran along the billboard, using his Cataclysm to make it fall down, aiming at Stormy Weather. She blasted a hole through it and that's where Ladybug came in.

As Stormy Weather went up, Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around her ankle. She took off running under the pipes and against a crane before jumping over an HVAC. Opening the towel, she used it as a parachute of some sort, soaring into the air and pulling Stormy Weather down. The speed of which the Akuma fell and the angle of the crane made Stormy lose her parasol.

Chat Noir caught it and tossed to Ladybug. "Get outta here, little butterfly." She broke the parasol and the akuma fluttered away from it. "Hold on, little akuma. Time to go!" She captured and purified the butterfly, releasing it after. "Bye, little butterfly!"

Ladybug threw the towel up in the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The pink energy fixed the damage and the weather as Ladybug subtly stepped closer to Chat. His energy was much more comforting than the positive pink light. Stormy Weather turned back to Aurore and groaned. "Uh, what am I doing up here?" she asked.

"Pound it."

* * *

Tikki peaked out of the pocket again. "Hey, there's the photographer and Adrien waiting for you!" she pointed out.

Marinette nodded distractedly. "Yeah, uh, but where's Manon and Alya? And, don't you think it's a little too late?" she asked.

"Come on, Marinette. You saved Manon, and the whole world for that matter. Have some fun!" Tikki replied. The whole world?

A kid knocked into Marinette causing Tikki to hide again. "Marinette!" Manon cried, hugging her legs. "I know what your secret is!"

Marinette scrunched up her face in confusion. "What secret?"

Manon grinned up at her. "You know Ladybug! That's how you got her to check on us and try to save us! You guys are probably best friends!"

"Uh. . . yeah! Yeah, you're so right, Manon!" Marinette gathered her up in her arms, squeezing her in a hug. A second later, she snaked an arm around Alya's waist and pulled her in, hugging them both. After a few moments, she set both of them down.

"Can I have a lollipop? Can I? Can I? Can I?" Manon pleaded.

Marinette rolled her eyes and smirked. "How about we get you that after the smoothie?"

Alya snapped her fingers. "Oh, right! Adrien said that he couldn't go with all of us. But, I think that if only one of went with-"

"Oh, okay," Marinette cut off.

Alya blinked. "No, Marinette, I meant-"

"Adrien can't come. I get that," Marinette said confusedly. "You don't have to keep repeating yourself, Alya."

The blogger groaned. "No! I meant that Adrien couldn't go with us, too busy of a schedule, but I think that if-"

"I'm not leaving you or Manon behind, Alya." Marinette rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't be much of a hangout if I didn't hang out with all my French friends. C'mon," she picked Manon up, "let's go see if they still need the model."

They made their way over, stopping as the photographer pointed a finger at them. Or, most importantly, Manon. Marinette changed her stance so that Manon was the farthest away from the man. "Perfecto!" The man tried to grab Manon but Marinette pushed him back.

"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow.

The man backtracked. Adrien looked embarrassed in the background. "Er, I mean, for the role! She could pose next to Adrien, bring more life to the pictures!"

Marinette turned her head to Manon. "Do you want to, Manon?"

Manon hesitated, then nodded with a bright smile. Marinette sighed then allowed her to go, watching as she took various photos with Adrien.

Sitting on the ground, she resigned herself for a long time of waiting, with making people and objects trip and fall with shadows as her only amusement.


	8. you know I had to do it to em

okay! so as y'all realize I have not updated in a super long time, which! I am very sorry about! the main cause of it is procrastination and that my mental health isn't exactly at best rn. i have been thinking about the story and this (along with other ones) make me super, uh, not happy? ig.

So! I have been playing with the idea of **rewriting A DemiHero!**

Obviously, it'll be a different story than this. I'm planning on deviating further from the canon.

So what I'm planning on doing is to write the chapter, and then at the end of the season, post all the notes I had wrote about the episodes (even though they aren't very funny) cuz y'all seem to want me to do that.

 **Y'all can help me by going back and reviewing what part of this story you liked the most, and I can see if I can incorporate it into the rewrite!** can be stuff like "i love how Alya seems bossy"

or "Marinettes reasoning for this is so funny"

or even "maybe in the rewrite Juleka can appear more! especially in *insert episode* or even in general!"

or "I dont think Mari should be friends with so-and-so"

or "Marinette woukd make really good friends with so-and-so in this au!"

or heck "Can you explain more of *insert here* in the rewrite?"

or even just suggtions for the rewrite in general like "hey maybe you can try to put this scene in the rewrite!"

Also! I now have a tumblr for this where you could probably leave suggestions or something! it's **planetoblivion**

alright, bye! thanks for sticking around!

And remember: reviews are _very_ welcomed

(also might try to do stuff with ao3 but don't quote me on that and don't worry bc I'll still post here if I do)


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